


A Galaxy Trapped

by AidansQueen



Series: The Valiant Series [1]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Pete's World, The Master is rude and Rose is annoyed., Torchwood - Freeform, a lot of sarcasm
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-02
Updated: 2016-11-22
Packaged: 2018-08-28 13:19:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 92,949
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8447455
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AidansQueen/pseuds/AidansQueen
Summary: All the Master wants to do is get off of her planet, and all Rose wants is to help him do just that.





	1. Silence in the Galaxy

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own any of or it make any money from any of it, all of it belongs to those who created Doctor Who. 
> 
> A/N: Hello everyone! So I started writing this years ago and decided to finally post it. I've added things in and edited a bit seeing as I started this years ago and wanted to adjust it so I can add new characters like Missy or Clara. Needless to say when I began the editing process it took me a while to get my story in order. There will be a lot of old characters as well as new. From what I've gathered thus far while writing, this should probably be about four books long before we reach the end. The relationship between the Master and Rose is difficult and complex, so it took about four books to sort them out. I wanted to explore what it really means to be a Time Lord/Lady, the deeper concepts of 'friendship' as Missy told Clara in 'The Magicians Apprentice'. I wanted to explore what's it like knowing someone who changes their face every few centuries, how you get to that point where it doesn't matter what face they've got on, they're still the same person. The story is set in Pete's world, where Rose works at Torchwood with the mirrored versions of the Torchwood team. 
> 
> I hope you all enjoy it!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When the Galaxy becomes oddly silent, only the Master knows what lurks in the depths of space and what kind of threat it is to planet Earth.

She wakes to the sound of a storm outside, the wind rattling the branches of a tree against her window. In the still quiet darkness of her bedroom she rubs the sleep from her eyes and sighs. Another nightmare, another restless night. Rose Tyler has many restless nights with her job, and the nightmares always come with it. Tonight, though was about him—as it is most nights. He’s been gone for so long now, he almost feels like a memory, like the dream of a life that never happened. She both dreads and hopes for the day he might come back; he did things she couldn’t bring herself to forgive him for but she understands why he did it. She glances at the clock on the table beside her bed and rolls out of bed, pulling on her robe. _He’ll_ be wanting his tea soon, and since she was going down to make tea for herself she might as well bring him some.

When she’d found him, he was stark raving mad.  Now he sat in the corner of his cell, glaring at her through the reinforced plexiglass walls. His cell consisted of three levels of security, the innermost being iron bars encasing the cage from roof top to the floor beneath his feet. The second layer was reinforced bullet proof plexi-glass walls with holes drilled into it to allow breathable air through. The third was a state of the art alarm system that went off the second he so much as _thought_ about trying to escape. It had cost Rose four good Torchwood employees (whom are currently on sick-leave while they recuperate from their injuries) two Torchwood issued vehicles, one sonic screwdriver, the battered remains of a blue police public call box, and _astronomical_ amount of damage done to the Torchwood building. Even after all of this, what won the fight in the end between her and the Master was a piece of rotting timber that he failed to notice her swinging towards his head.

               Rose thought that it was surely the end when she went to face him. She was out-numbered, out-witted, and completely out of her league. She was going up against a Time Lord, a crazy one even. Not that Rose hadn’t done that once before, but that’s another story. She didn’t have anyone but herself and her employees to take him on, and the only bit of knowledge she had was what she knew of his species in general.  She hadn’t wanted to kill him though; she wanted to preserve him as much as she could in case she ever ran across the Doctor.  It was only because of the Doctor’s double and the TARDIS he grew years before the Master ever set foot in her universe, that she had the knowledge to figure out who the Master was. The TARDIS data-bank had a little information on him, just enough to give Rose an idea of who she was dealing with.

               Everything in that data-bank warned her to run away and avoid him at all costs. Yet she couldn’t just abandon the planet though and leave an insane megalomaniacal Time Lord to run loose and terrorize the citizens of planet Earth, now could she?  As she paced the cement floors outside of his cell he deemed her unworthy of his gaze and opted to stare at the floor instead. He was sulking she mused, had been sulking for months now. At first he was capable of escape quiet easily, as Rose learned one morning when she found sitting at her kitchen table helping himself to a pot of tea while her Mother cowered in the corner of the room next the refrigerator, watching him with a mixture of contempt and fear. The plexiglass was a new touch, and now after discovering that even if he made it through the plexiglass an alarm would set off, made him sulk even more about it.

Sometimes she thinks he sets the alarm off on purpose.

He had decided that if he couldn’t rule the universe he’d opt to annoy her instead. He did everything he could to irritate her, everything from setting off the alarms to screaming at the top of his lungs until she came down to the basement to shut him up. It was odd too; her Mother complained often that she didn’t like having to wash her knickers in front of him. Whenever she’d go down there to do the laundry she’d demand he’d turn away and he’d just stare at her and she’d get angry and later on have a row with Rose as to _why_ he had to be in the basement at all.

It was really quite simple honestly; it was because she didn’t trust anyone at Torchwood with him. She wanted to keep him where she could see him. He was as slippery as they come, and he had proven himself more than capable of out-witting her. She was quite proud of herself though, she’d kept up with him as best she could and even _he_ had to admit that she wasn’t an average ape. Hitting him with an old plank of wood though was technically cheating, but he’d been cheating all the way up until he blew a hole in the side of the Torchwood building (which was where her office was unfortunately.) He’d deliberately antagonized her that day, blowing up her office (which he knew she wasn’t currently occupying, but it was done to get her attention not kill her) and then showing up at her house later that evening and demanding she hand over the TARDIS.

Long story short, he wanted the TARDIS and he bloody well got it. While he stood in the garden mooning over the TARDIS she stood behind him and grabbed an old piece of timber, cracking it across the side of his face hard enough to knock him out. When he woke up he was handcuffed and chained to the bars of a cell that Pete had Torchwood employees quickly pull together while Rose kept the Master busy. It was a fairly simple design quickly welded together to keep him contained until they could manage better means of confinement. Every time he escaped after she felt was a means of him mocking her intelligence, as if saying ‘ _Ha, I’ve escaped again!’_

“Still not talking to me are you?” Rose says as she opens a floor level panel on the side of the cage, sliding a tray of tea and oatmeal through it.  He liked his tea black with two sugars, didn’t care for oatmeal but suffered it only because her Mother refused him anything else.  Rose noted the black cuff on his ankle as he shifted his weight to reach for the tray.  They’d fitted him with that recently, another safety precaution. Rose refused at first and then when Tosh brought it over she agreed only if they’d let her put it on him. Tosh made it especially for him; it was a modified version of a Taser gun that would light him up like a Christmas tree if he so much as set a _toe_ beyond the perimeter set for it. They’d opted to do this when he refused to stop setting off the alarm at two in the morning just to wake up the whole household.

He was furious with her over that, scowled menacingly at Tosh and Owen if they tried to help Rose. In the end after much arguing and a few compromises he proffered his ankle and she snapped it in place.  Thus was how he ended up with sugar in his tea in the morning, and Rose got a little more sleep on weekends.

Sometimes being his jailor really sucked.

“Tell me how it happened,” he says quietly without looking at her. His obsession with the Valeyard, with the man who haunted her nightmares was endless. The Master seemed honestly disturbed by the idea of the Valeyard being in this universe with him. “Tell me exactly what he did.”

“I’ve told you already,” Rose scowls at him through the glass, “I’ve told you--..”

“Eighteen,” he cuts her off sharply.

“What?” Rose frowns at him.

“Eighteen,” he begins smoothly as he sips his tea, “you’ve told me eighteen times already.”

“And after eighteen times you still don’t get it, do you?” Rose grounds out, fending off the ache of hurt in her heart whenever she thought of the Doctor who wasn’t. “He wasn’t who I thought he was…he grew a TARDIS and ran off with it and then crashed it in my Mum’s garden.”

“I think there’s more to it than that,” he says knowingly, glancing at her, “I think your lying to me.”

“It’s none of your business,” Rose scowls at him.

“The Valeyard running loose in this universe is everybody’s business Rose Tyler,” he points out, “even _I_ have limits…he’s…” The Master shakes his head as if recalling something from long ago, “different.”

“TARDIS is trashed anyways,” Rose mutters quietly as she turns to leave, “I dunno why you bothered to try and steal it at all.”

“Because I can fix it,” he says as he stands, stepping towards the glass to watch her.

“It’s dead,” she points out, “Or dying…she’s too badly damaged. I haven’t the foggiest clue what he did while he was gone but she’s in pieces.”

“The difference between the Valeyard and I Rose Tyler,” he says as she starts up the stairs, determined to end their conversation. “Is that I want to _rule_ this universe…. he wants to _destroy_ it.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Rose says as she shuts the door to the basement and carries on with her chores.

 

* * *

 

 

She started having Pete bring him his meals. She didn’t want to look at him anymore, let alone talk to him. He was driving her crazy on purpose, determined to terrorize her because she’d trapped him. She managed to keep away from him for a solid week before she woke up to the sound of her shower running at one in the morning. She rolls out of bed blurry eyed and half awake, stumbling into her bathroom. She gets one look at his bare leg carefully perched outside of the tub, her eyes drifting down from his strong thigh to the black ankle bracelet before she sputters indignantly, “what the hell are you doing!?”

“Well you can’t expect me to sit in my own filth now can you?” He replies smoothly, “even Time Lords need a shower once in a while.”

“It’s one in the morning!” Rose strains not to shout but still says it just a tad bit too loudly.

“And I don’t need to sleep that often,” He retorts easily, “you humans, you sleep so much. It’s absolutely absurd how often your species has to sleep.”

“Get out of there right now!” Rose growls angrily.

“I would,” he says as he casually hangs his head around the shower curtain to look at her, “but I haven’t any clothes to wear.”

“What? Where are the clothes you were wearing?” Rose sighs heavily.

“I burned them,” he says so easily it was as if he was discussing the weather.

“You _what_?” Rose gapped at him as he disappeared behind the shower curtain. The sweet smell of cherry blossoms filled the room and she heard him chuckle. “You’re going to have to find me something a bit less feminine to wash with.”

“ _Why_ did you burn your clothes!?” Rose demanded angrily, tempted to yank back the stupid shower curtain that prevented her from scolding him properly. However it would mean he’d be stark naked right in front of her and that was something she wasn’t keen on just at the moment. She’d never even _seen_ a naked Time Lord before (save for a half-human one,) there’s no telling what he might actually look like.

“So you’d get me new ones,” he explained simply, “a bit slow on the uptake early in the morning aren’t you?”

Rose furrowed her brow in thought, staring at the shower curtain in a mixture of anger and confusion. Then finally she turned and ran downstairs, catching sight of the living room fireplace as she descended. There in the hearth burned his clothes, and for a single moment she thought about being vindictive and locking him up in the basement butt naked.

Then she remembered the orange jumpsuit Torchwood had given her for him to wear.

When she presented him the obscenely bright orange jumpsuit with an elegant flourish the appalled look on his face was priceless. He sneered crudely and when she saw the glimmer of mischief in his eyes she added, “Don’t worry, if you burn this one there’s plenty more where it came from.”

The sneer drops right off his face and turns into a horrible scowl that eventually turns into a glare. When he’d emerged from the bathroom Rose tried desperately hard not to howl with laughter at the sight of the Time Lord parading through her bedroom and then kitchen looking like a giant orange popsicle.

“You realize this means war don’t you?” he says casually as he fixes himself a cup of tea. He’s turned his back to her and she cannot see the expression on his face, there was no telling if he was being serious or not.

“You wanted new clothes so I provided them for you,” Rose sniffs indignantly. “It’s not my fault you opted to burn your clothes. All you needed to do is let me know that they needed washing. How was I supposed to know they were dirty? The Doctor never really changed clothes much…I figured you lot don’t get dirty as easily as we humans do.”

“I’ve been wearing that sweatshirt and those jeans for ages now,” he says sourly, “I’d hoped you see reason and at least grant me a decent set of clothes.”

“Where did you come from anyways?” Rose asks as he turns to face her, leaning against the kitchen counter to regard her with a carefully guarded expression.

“I came from the _stars_ ,” he says dramatically; tilting his chin up to make himself appear nobler. “From a galaxy a long way away from here.”

“ _Please,_ ” Rose snorts into her tea, suppressing a smile.

“No really,” he says as the smile drops from his face. “I did.”

“Where then?” Rose asks as she watches him watching her, his fingers drumming lightly on the kitchen counter and the muscle on the right side of his jaw ticking ever so slightly as he contemplates an answer.

“Gallifrey,” he tells her as he stares into his tea cup. “I came from Gallifrey.”

“I thought all that was under a time lock?” Rose responds with mild surprise, “how did you get out?”

“I’m clever,” He chuckles lightly. “Did nobody tell you?”

“Gallifrey was destroyed in the Time War,” Rose says quietly, “and the Doctor’s running about in the other universe thinking all of you are dead—does he know your alive?”

“Yes,” he says quietly, “in fact, I ended up in this universe because I saved him.”

“You saved him?” Rose quirks a brow.

“Yes,” he replies peevishly, obviously irritated by her skepticism, “I saved him. I sent Rassilion and all his idiot council members back into the Time War---and got pulled in with them.”

“I take it you don’t like this Rassilion bloke?” Rose asks curiously.

 “Not really,” He sighs. “You see…Rassilion was a bit on an ass to me while I was there…repaired my body but left me to be the court jester while he and his _esteemed colleagues_ prattled on about how to save Gallifrey.”

“So you’d still leave them all to rot?” Rose asks with a frown, “you’ve found a way out—you could have at least saved some of them. Not all of them are bad apples like Rassilion.”

“Yes,” he says as he sips his tea, “Pretty much. I barely had enough time to save myself before the planet was destroyed let alone worry about anyone else.”

 “Wow,” Rose says as she sets her cup down. “I thought you were just a bit twisted but you really are an asshole, aren’t you?”

He narrows his eyes as her and tilts his head to one side, his chin dipping down as he levels his gaze upon her. There is something malicious glimmering in his eyes now as he speaks lowly, his voice dropping an octave as he replies, “Did you ever wonder how I knew your name?” His voice is deep and smooth and far too confident as he casually begins, though Rose can tell this is anything but casual. “How I knew your every move? It’s because I know _everything_ about you Rose Tyler…. I know everything that he knew because I was in his mind and saw it all.”

“You’re lying.” Rose snaps, her eyes glittering like diamonds.

“Rose Marion Tyler… _Badwolf._ ” he begins with a cruel smirk curving his lips. “You were nineteen when he met you. He brought you back a year late and your Mum went ballistic over the course of that year as any parent in their right mind would. You travelled the galaxy with him; you saw the end of the earth. He regenerated and like the stupid little ape you are, you turned your back on him when he needed you most. You cowered in a corner rather than accept he gave his life to save you because you tried to give your life for his. He couldn’t possibly accept that _of course not_ ; you were his precious pet so he burned through a regeneration to pull the time vortex out of your head. It took a bit but you finally warmed up to him and soon you were running across the universe with him again. You then went to New _New_ York…you met…Cassandra, wasn’t it?” He ponders this for a moment and then continues, “She then redefined the meaning of _awkward_ as she paraded around in both your body _and_ his. He lost you…. he lost you when the Daleks and the Cybermen tried to take over the planet. Your father Pete saved you at the last minute and that’s how you ended up _here_.”

Rose gapped at him and he continued before she could comment, “You like your tea with milk and sugar and just a dab of honey, you _love_ chips,” he emphasized her love for them with a mocking roll of his eyes and a girly trill to his voice. “You can’t stand it when people muck about in your head; your favorite color is pink. You have this thing when you’re thinking about something you sort of bite your lower lip. When you’re anxious or angry you tend to draw your hands up into your sleeves and stretch them out as if you’re trying to relieve the tension in your shoulders but it’s actually a subconscious attempt at looking stronger than you are. You try to appear less frustrated than you really are--…”

“OK,” Rose grounds out, “I get it.”

“You bite your nails when you’re nervous and your pheromones smell like orange blossoms in the spring,” he snickers at the last bit. “He really did like to observe you.”

“ _Shut up_ ,” Rose says quietly though her voice is as cold and hard as ice. It threatened to bring tears to her eyes, the extent to which the Doctor had observed her. She had no idea that he’d known so much about her, that he’d learned so much by just watching her.

He falls silent and watches her watching him before he finishes his own tea and sets the cup in the sink. “Well,” he rubs his hands together gingerly and starts for the basement. “Suppose I should get to bed.”

He hums lightly as she listens to him descend the stairs, the iron bars of his cell creaking as he shuts it behind him with a soft click. She thinks that being his jailor has just reached an entirely new level of horrible.

                                                                   

* * *

 

The following week is tiresome. He is belligerent and uncooperative with Pete to the point that she has to go down there herself and deal with him. He seems pleased until he realizes that all he was getting for breakfast was cold tea and a stale biscuit.

“Where’s my sugar?” he demands quietly as she turns to leave.

“You get nothing,” Rose begins without looking at him, “you get absolutely _nothing_ until you stop being such an ass. You get food, you get to bath but only when it’s necessary and if you so much as utter a _syllable_ about my pheromones or any other bodily functions of mine, you’ll _never_ see another cup of tea again.”

“Oh come now,” he smirks at her. “Be reasonable…you thought I was lying to you….I said I knew everything about you and I do. How do you think I managed to out-maneuver you at every turn?”

“You are completely _incorrigible_!” Rose huffs and storms back up the stairs.

When she enters the kitchen Jackie spares her a glance while washing dishes. “He being an ass again?”

“Yes,” Rose scowls deeply. “Why can’t he just….just….be _decent_?”

“He’s a bit mad darling,” Jackie says sympathetically, “you can’t expect him to be decent. He and the Doctor never got on well back in the other universe and you were the Doctor’s companion once.”

“He knows _everything_ about me,” Rose scowls. “And I only know what the damn data-bank tells me about him.”

“How does he know all that then?” Jackie asks as she pulls a tray of biscuits from the oven and sets them on top of the oven. Tony toddles in shortly after, dragging a stuffed bear behind him. She lifts him up into his high chair and proceeds to feed him.

“He read the Doctor’s mind at some point or other,” Rose gestures casually with one hand. “I don’t even know how he got that information I just know he has it.”

“Nosy bugger isn’t he?” Jackie frowns as Tony overturns the little bowl of cereal she places in front of him.

“I don’t know what else to do with him,” Rose sighs. “He won’t stay in the cell; he roams the house freely and wakes me in the middle of the night when he’s _bored_. He mocks me and annoys me intentionally….I can’t take him to the Torchwood detainment facility, I don’t trust them with him.”

“You wouldn’t dare risk anyone hurting him and yet you can’t stand the sight of him,” Jackie chuckles lightly. “Mixed signals that.”

“ _No_ ,” Rose says quickly, “I just want to keep him alive is all…. he’s sort of the last of his kind….and maybe if the Doctor finds his way here I can hand him over to him.”

“Rose,” Jackie sighs softly, a look of concern in her eyes as she cups her daughter’s cheek gently. “Sweetheart…you know he’s never coming back. He’s gone Rose…you managed to have a good five years with that other version of him here…and then he went mad and made off with the TARDIS and crashed it in my garden later. You and him had a good run…he gave my daughter the best damn five years of her life and I’m grateful every day for that…but I’m sorry sweetheart you can’t just sit there and hold out hope that you’ll run across the Doctor or that other one will come back, you’ve got to live your life… _you have to move on_.”

“I know,” Rose says as she ducks her head, turning her gaze out the kitchen window.

“No,” Jackie sighs. “I don’t think you do….when your Father died….back in the other universe….I thought he was the love of my life and I just couldn’t let go of him.”

“ _Mum_ ,” Rose groans as Jackie continues.

“No really,” Jackie says gently, “I thought he was the love of my life….and I was devastated. I refused to move on and even when I tried…. I didn’t want commitment. I had boyfriends sure…you remember some of them I think,” Jackie smiles faintly. “None of them ever compared to your Father. He was an ass and he drove me crazy…he was irresponsible and we argued all the time but I loved him more than anything.”

“Mum,” Rose frowns. “Where are you going with this?”

“What I’m saying sweetheart,” Jackie begins, “is that even though you lost him…The Doctor…there will be other loves. You can have more than one soul mate darling, it’s entirely possible. I found Pete….and I’m grateful for him every day. So basically, what I’m saying is, if I could find another version of your Father in a different universe than you can find another soul mate too.”

“I’m going to work,” Rose says quietly and cannot meet her gaze.

“Alright,” Jackie says and steps away, watching her daughter forlornly as she grabs her coat and leaves.

                                                       

* * *

 

               Work is tedious and troublesome. Rose is swamped with paperwork and unclassified items with no names. She spends most of her time trying to work out what half of the items are and what they do. When Tosh notices the worn look on her face she takes pity on her and offers to finish up the paperwork. Rose is grateful and takes a dinner break, sitting by the peer in Cardiff. She is lonely and tired, the stars above her head glittering like diamonds in the sky. As the cold breeze whips at her hair she feels that ache of loneliness even deeper than before. The chips she’d been eating have gone cold and she’s finished her tea. There was no point in sitting out here alone by the sea anymore and yet she couldn’t make herself get up and walk back to the Torchwood building. Instead she walks along the metal railing that lines the wharf and watches the stars above her.

               She misses travelling the universe, she misses seeing new planets and meeting different species. Down here on earth it was more like protecting the Earth from invasions, and she never got to have much of a conversation with any of them. When the other version of the Doctor came to live with her here things had been great. He helped her with her work at Torchwood, but at that time the TARDIS was still being grown and they were left stranded on Earth. He struggled with fitting in, becoming a human. He struggled with having to sleep every night, with going to work every day and being incredibly and plainly domestic. There was something clearly off about him, but Rose didn’t want to see it. There was a funny glint in his eye she ignored, or the way he spoke sometimes that set her on edge. So, Rose tried something else, tried to cheer him up by renting an apartment for them. They lived together in Cardiff near the Torchwood building. Every morning they’d walk to work together hand in hand and stop off at a little restaurant by the wharf every Friday evening to have dinner.

               They’d built a life together, they’d managed it. The only dark time Rose could remember in their past was the day she realized she could never give him children. They’d discovered that after several attempts, and a doctor’s visit through Torchwood medical confirmed what they’d feared. It was another hard blow, another loss. They got through it eventually, had intended on adopting when the proverbial shit hit the fan. It’d been another mission, another hard day. Yet this day was unlike the others, it was her life or the lives of many and he chose her.

He chose her.

She hadn’t known it at the time, she hadn’t understood what he’d done. He’d done it without a second thought and it broke Rose when she found out what he did. The Doctor wouldn’t have killed all those people to save her, Rose wouldn’t have wanted that. She still has nightmares about it, about knowing that he’d killed twenty people just so Rose could live. He’d argued with her endlessly about it too, told her he’d rather her live and watch the whole bloody planet burn. He’d admitted to everything she tried to ignore, admitted to his boredom and his disgust with the way humans live. He didn’t want that life for himself, he wanted to be what he was and Rose could understand that. The whole mess was tearing her apart, she loved him blindly, endlessly, but what he did…what he did….

He left that night.

She hadn’t seen him in weeks until he crashed the TARDIS in her backyard and she found him half dead inside. When she ran inside to get help, he’d disappeared. He was just gone and she found nothing but the TARDIS and his sonic screwdriver. She searched for him, for ages it seemed. She never found him, she tried to call his phone but found it in a garbage can near the wharf.

He was gone.

Her world shattered into pieces, colliding like molecules inside a dying star that went supernova. Rose hated to dwell on the past, had learned from the Doctor not to do that. She couldn’t help but to reminisce upon her lost love though, upon the pain she’d felt and the grief she went through upon his loss. It was clear he was never coming back, that he was done trying to live a human life with her. She understood that, accepted it.

               When she finally grew tired of walking the empty wharf she headed back to the Torchwood building, passing the dozing security guard at the door with a half-smile curving her lips. She smacks the desk he sits at casually as she goes, the security guard waking with a start as he watches Rose wide eyed and startled as she passes through the metal detector and heads up to her office.  When she catches sight of frantic employees running two and fro through the corridors of the level on which she worked, she knew something was up.

“I was gone for an _hour,_ ” Rose says with a groan, gesturing towards the mess of an office and the fire currently being put out on a nearby desk.

“Yes,” Tosh grimaces as she watches the blaze being put out. “I’m sorry…. they wanted to look at that hair dryer…or whatever it was…. turned out it was more like a plasma weapon.”

“I told you,” Rose sighs as she pinches the bridge of her nose. “Please don’t let them touch the unclassified items. If I deem them safe then they can meddle with them, but if I haven’t looked at them yet don’t let anyone touch them.”

“I know _I’m sorry,_ ” Tosh says honestly, twisting her fingers nervously together in front of her. “We’re all so bored up here you know? It’s been quiet lately as you know and I just thought maybe we could help.”

“It’s alright,” Rose shakes her head and rubs her eyes wearily. “I’m bored too…it’s been way to quiet lately and that’s making me a little nervous.”

“It’s making us all nervous really,” Tosh agrees as she watches her co-workers place the plasma gun carefully back in its sealed container.

“Anything on the radar?” Rose asks as they start towards the monitors across the room.

“Nothing,” Tosh shakes her head. “The skies have been clear.”

“That’s crazy,” Rose frowns. “There is _always_ something going on.”

“Maybe they’ve finally given up and are leaving us alone?” Tosh says hopefully.

“Doubt it,” Rose chuckles lightly. “It’s almost like there…. hesitant…. or _scared_ of something.”

“Maybe it’s the Master,” Tosh suggests with raised eyebrows. “Maybe they’re frightened of him.”

“He’s a Time Lord,” Rose shrugs. “They might be stupid enough to relate the Doctor to the Master and assume the Master would defend the earth just the same.”

“Well if that’s the case let’s let them believe that and have a good weekend,” Tosh laughs.

“I’m game,” Rose laughs too, running a hand through her blond hair. “I’m heading home alright?”

“Alright” Tosh says with a wave. “Have a good night!”

 

                                 

* * *

 

 

 

               When she gets home she sees the light of the living room TV shining through the hallway door. Upon closer inspection she finds the Master watching cartoons and can’t help but smile a little. He was batshit crazy but he was also kind of amusing. Here was this lunatic Time Lord capable of universal destruction and he was watching cartoons at midnight.

“Rough night?” he says as she starts up the stairs.

She doesn’t answer him, heads upstairs instead to shower. When she’s clean and in her pajama’s she finds him still watching TV, flipping channels until he finds one he likes. She drops down next to him on the sofa and snatches the bowl of popcorn from his hands. “That’s mine you know,” Rose scowls at him. “My favorite actually…you been digging in my cabinet?”

For a brief moment he looks like a scandalized cat and then while he responds he goes into the kitchen and retrieves a second bowl for her. “I know it’s your favorite,” he smiles knowingly. She rolls her eyes and looks away while he divides the popcorn separately and hands her a bowl. She would have to lock up her cabinet now too. “You know,” he says casually, “if you were to let me help…things might actually pick up at work.”

“Absolutely not,” Rose shakes her head. “I wouldn’t trust you with a teaspoon let alone allow you near any of the unclassified items at work.”

“It’s been quiet lately hasn’t it?” He continues as if he hadn’t heard her, “don’t you think that’s odd?”

“Yes,” Rose says carefully as she watches the TV screen. “What do you know about it?”

“Nothing,” he shrugs. “I just noticed how oddly silent it was around your planet when I arrived.”

When she doesn’t say anything, he adds, “we could check the surrounding galaxy with the TARDIS scanner.”

“No,” Rose says a little too quickly, “and besides….the TARDIS is dead.”

“You’re _lying,_ ” he says quietly with ice in his tone, “don’t lie to me….I can _hear_ her….she’s still alive.”

“The last of the power was spent using the data-bank….I was saving her last bit of power for an emergency and _you_ were it. She’s completely dark inside….not a trace of life in her,” Rose sighs. “I’m not lying to you.”

“She’s alive,” he argues quietly, “you just can’t hear her but I can….she’s just…sleeping is all.”

“So she’s on standby?” Rose frowns as she turns to look at him.

“No,” The Master says as he turns his head to meet her gaze. “Not like that…. she doesn’t have the power to even start her engines. That idiot damaged her pretty badly in the crash. She’s preserving what she has left of her power.”

“I’m not letting you inside the TARDIS,” Rose tells him firmly.

“Well you can’t very well get her running by yourself,” he replies evenly, “and let’s face it, now that you know she’s not dead you won’t be able to stop yourself from running out into the garden to try and find a way to power her up.”

“I’m not going to---…” Rose shakes her head but he cuts her off.

“Yes you are,” he smiles at her knowingly. “You will because you’re just as bored as I am and you want off this planet as much or nearly as much as I do.”

“You’re right…I do want to travel again. You might actually be telling the truth and we could get the hell off this planet…or you’ll steal the TARDIS right out from under me and go off to terrorize the universe,” Rose frowns at him. “I’m responsible for you whether I like it or not. I can’t trust you near that TARDIS no matter how badly I want off this planet.”

“Suit yourself,” he says with a shrug. “You’ll come around eventually.”

 

                                     

* * *

 

 

 

               He was right unfortunately, though Rose refused to admit it. As the days went on things began to get strange on planet Earth. Not the typical Torchwood strange, but properly strange.

“The bees are disappearing,” Tosh frowns at Rose over her lunch. They sat at a seaside café, it was beautiful day, the birds were singing, the air smelt of summer and the sea shimmered like gold under the sun. Yet here was Toshiko Sato, talking about bee’s disappearing. Rose stared down at her lemon chicken salad and tried to will away the uneasy feeling settling in the pit of her stomach.

“How do you know?” Rose questions as she takes a bite of chicken.

“It’s in the newspaper,” Tosh says as she shows Rose the newspaper she’d been reading. “How odd right?”

“Global warming….” Rose shrugs. “Things like that have been happening what with pollution and all.”

“True,” Tosh agrees, “but it’s like…they’re leaving in _swarms_.”

“Swarms?” Rose says skeptically, “you been reading the tabloids again?”

“ _No_ ,” Tosh smiles at her sheepishly. “I’m just saying…it’s made it to the newspaper.”

“Well,” Rose says as she takes a sip of her ice tea and set the glass back down on the table. “If bees were aliens than I’d be worried.”

“I think they are,” Tosh frowns at her. “Or at least some species are.”

“Wait,” Rose blinks at her. “Really?”

“Yeah,” Tosh nods. “I don’t know which ones though.”

“Hmm,” Rose says thoughtfully as she takes another bite of salad. She stirs the fork among the greens in her salad, spinning them about like the hands of a clock face turning in rotation. Her mind has been wandering lately; perhaps the Master has kept her so distracted she hasn’t noticed the signs? Maybe something serious is happening and she just wasn’t paying attention? It was her job to protect this planet, and her preoccupation with holding the universe’s most dangerous alien captive in her basement was starting to take its toll on her work.

“We should probably check it out,” Rose says thoughtfully with her gaze fixed on a distant point out at sea as her mind wanders away to distant shores, of years long past and a man she once knew. He’d have noticed this already; he’d have seen the signs. She was failing him; she was becoming just another disappointment. When the Master came to her universe she knew she was the only one who had even a chance at stopping him. Only because she travelled with the Doctor, but who was she kidding? She knew she stood a snowballs chance in hell at winning.

She managed it though.

She’d resorted to an old-fashioned ape technique which she still feels guilty about. She’d clocked him right alongside the head with a piece of wood, knocked him unconscious rather than face him in some heroic stand off like the Doctor would have.

Granted rendering the Master unconscious probably wouldn’t have crossed his mind.

That very evening she’d been battered and bruised, her hair smelt like smoke and there were flowering bruises all along her right cheek. The blast from the explosion in her office hadn’t been extraordinary, it was just enough to wreck her office and blow out the windows. It was also just enough to shake the building and send her tumbling backwards over a table just as she reached the department floor where her office was located. She’d limped all the way back down to the ground floor afterwards, scrambled into a torchwood vehicle with Tosh and Owen and raced after the Master like they were in some kind of action film.

It was absolutely mad.

Maybe if she could manage all that than she could manage this? Maybe she was over thinking things, and truly there wasn’t anything to be worried about at all. Then again the Master had mentioned how silent the galaxy was, how odd he found it.

“You think so?” Tosh perks up almost hopefully.

“Yeah,” Rose nods. “Just in case.”

“I’ll call Owen and let him know were going to check it out,” Tosh tells her just a little too cheerfully and pulls out her mobile.

They pull up at a meadow on the edge of town. This was the place where the newspaper had done its report, displaying a lovely picturesque image of a quaint little meadow full of flowers like something out of a gardening magazine. The picture did it justice, Rose thought as she gazed upon the acre wide patch of colors. As they strolled down the narrow dirt bike trail that winds through the meadow Rose noted the apparent lack of bee population. She found a few though, wandering from flower to flower and as absurd as she felt doing it, she spoke to them.

“Where you lot off to then?” Rose said with her hands on her hips, gazing down at the bees near her knees.

“I doubt they speak our language,” Tosh suppresses a chuckle.

The Doctor would have known how to speak to them, Rose inwardly sighs at the thought. He would have known exactly what to do and here she was, talking to honey bees out in the middle of a meadow in broad daylight.

“Maybe we’ve got the wrong species?” Rose says as she glances back at Tosh. “You got that translator device with you?”

“I don’t think it would be able to speak to bees,” Tosh says as she ponders it, “maybe if we just observe them? Maybe see what they’re up too?”

“Like taking another lunch break in the middle of a park on a nice day,” Rose grins at her. “I’m up for it.”

They walked on a little while further, climbing to the top of a nearby hill that overlooked the valley they’d just driven through to get there. Sitting atop some rocks they watched the meadow with mild interest, eventually boredom began to set in.

“I always knew I was never meant to be a naturalist,” Tosh says idly as she watches the meadow. “I wanted to build rockets and play with gravity canons since I was twelve.”

“I was just worried about making the gymnastic team,” Rose laughs. “I won the bronze in school.”

“Somehow I don’t think we’re going to learn anything this way,” Tosh sighs.

“Agreed,” Rose nods. “We should head back you think?”

“Yeah,” Tosh says as she turns her gaze towards the sky. They both watch as swarms of birds sweep past overhead, headed north.

“When do you suppose birds migrate?” Rose asks as they watch the birds grow smaller and smaller in the distance.

“Not until the fall at least,” Tosh responds, her expression unreadable.

“The animals are fleeing,” Rose begins quietly, “the bees are disappearing…. something’s coming.”

“Oh I hate it when you say that,” Tosh groans.

“Why?” Rose frowns at her.

“Because you’re always right,” Tosh sighs as the two of them start back towards the car.

 

                                                                   

* * *

 

 

 

               When she gets home he’s sitting patiently in the basement cell while her Mother makes dinner. He’s taken to keeping to his cell when her Mum and Tony are home. Only because Jackie refuses him dinner if he comes anywhere near them while their home. He’s reading the newspaper when she comes down to the basement with his dinner, watches as he casually folds it and sets it aside to look at her.

“Had an interesting day?” He asks almost smugly as she slides the tray into his cell.

“Not really,” Rose sighs. “Chasing bees…. paperwork.”

“You noticed,” he grins at her. “ _Good_.”

“Noticed what?” Rose says as she quirks an eyebrow.

“The bees disappearing…it’s in the papers.” He tells her as he nods towards the neatly folded newspaper beside him. He stands to retrieve his meal, idly tossing away the buttered biscuit with a mild look of disgust, sniffs the soup her Mother made and rolls his eyes. “Your Mother,” he sighs. “She certainly loves pepper.”

“I would’ve eaten the biscuit had I known you meant to toss it,” Rose scowls at him. “You’re wasting food.”

“It was stale anyways,” he casually waves it off.

“Picky,” Rose snorts rudely.

“ _Observant_ ,” he counters easily, raising his eyebrows as he meets her gaze.

 “What do you know about the bees disappearing?” Rose asks to change the subject.

“Nothing much,” he says as he takes a bite of soup. “Only what I read in the papers. We’d know more if you’d let me power up the TARDIS scanner.”

“I can scan the surrounding area around the planet from the Torchwood facility,” Rose counters quickly.

“Yes but not the surrounding _galaxy_ ,” He says wearily, setting the bowl of soup aside. “Rose this is _bigger_ than what you think.”

“The bees are disappearing…the animals are legging it….” Rose sighs. “Could just be global warming.”

“Or it could be an invasion your scanners aren’t picking up,” he snaps irritably, frustration working its way into his voice, “you’re worse than he is.”

“You claim you haven’t a clue what’s going on and yet you act like you’ve got an idea….so if you know something spit it the hell out!” Rose blurts out angrily.

“Let’s look at the facts, shall we?” he sighs as his patience wears thin. He proceeds to explain to her as if she were a small child the list of factors that she has both described to him and the things he observed on his own. “Take these factors and group them together, isn’t it bizarre? The animals are frightened…. the bees are leaving off planet…. the galaxy is _silent_. Doesn’t that say something to you? Doesn’t that make you the least bit uneasy? It’s certainly got my attention,” he says with his expression a mask of both irritation and stubborn determination. “When things like this happen…it means it’s time to _leave_.”

“Why?” Rose says as she steps closer to the cell, meeting his gaze.

“Because when things like this happen…it usually means something higher up on the food chain is coming. Have you ever seen fish at feeding time Rose? When the little fish are mucking about eating the tiny bits off the seafloor, they scatter the moment something bigger comes along. They can sense it, and when they know something bigger than them, something that threatens them is coming, they run away.”

Rose debates this for a few moments, watches him finish his soup and then smugly watches her, waiting for her to give in. Finally, she lets out a sigh, running a hand through her hair. “That jumpsuit is hideous on you.”

He blinks at her response, and then gives into her attempt to change the subject. She won’t listen just yet but she will eventually, “black was always my color.”

“Clearly,” she says dryly and turns to leave.

“Rose,” he says casually as he lifts the neatly folded newspaper up and spreads it out before him so he can look it over. “Haven’t you ever wondered why I’m still here?”

“What?” She asks, pausing to turn and look at him.

He sighs, looks up at her haphazardly tosses the paper aside. She watches him as he pops the door open, twisting a red wire in the side panel so that the alarm doesn’t go off. He then smiles at her smugly, and tilts his head to one side. “I can escape easily. I’ve been here for months and never once have I harmed so much as a hair on anyone’s head. I’ve had countless opportunities to strangle you in your _sleep_. Do you honestly think that this stupid little ape contraption is beyond my comprehension? That I don’t have the means to remove it at any time? _Please_ …. spare me,” he sneers coldly. “I could have left the day I woke up in that stupid little cell. I didn’t because _I’m right where I want to be_.”

Rose regards him thoughtfully, and fully turns to face him in the dim light of the setting sun filtering through the narrow basement windows. “You never actually wanted to take over the planet, did you?”

“At last!” he says with a dramatic flair, hands gesturing wildly in the air above him. “You’re _listening_!”

“I _have_ been listening!” Rose began firmly but he cut her off, placing his right index finger over her lips so that he might continue talking.

“ _Sssshhh_ ,” he says coolly, a mocking smile curving his lips. “I’m _talking_ ,” He waits to see that she’s listening before removing his finger from her lips. “You think you know _everything_ …do you recall what the very first words I ever said to you were?”

“ _Unhand me ape_?” Rose says with raised eyebrows.

He grimaces and pinches the bridge of his nose, motioning with his hand to skip ahead. “ _After_ that.”

Rose thinks on this while he waits patiently and wrinkles her nose at the memory. “ _Just listen_.”

“Yes,” he smirks at her. “That’s _all_ I wanted. I wanted you to hear me out. You hadn’t the foggiest clue what I’d been through when you found me. You’re _so_ much like him you know. So _just_....so _righteous_ …. you come along and decide I’m the enemy without a second thought.”

“You were stark raving mad,” Rose snaps, “you were ranting about drums! You were screaming at me in a different language, not to mention you tried to kill one of my employees with his own gun!”

“Well _excuse me_ if I was a bit out of my head at the moment, I’d just fallen through the bloody _Time War!”_ He fumes loudly, _“_ then somehow I managed to escape with my life into an alternate universe inside the remnants of a Dalek escape pod that’d I’d wedged shut with a bit of pipe and some _chewing gum_!”

“You blew a hole in the side of my office!” she shouts back angrily.

“ _Old habits die hard_!” he shouts back, “I was just trying to get your attention!”

“You came from the Time War?” Rose says quietly after a long while, the stunned expression on her face as she registers what he’d said was dissolving what anger she’d been feeling before.

“If you’d been listening,” he tells her pointedly, “or had given me a chance to explain I would have told you as much.”

“The TARDIS data-banks…” Rose began but trailed off at the glare he shot her.

“Are old,” he replied, “old and outdated…. they didn’t tell you everything…they didn’t tell you what happened in the end.”

“What happened in the end?” she echoes quietly, wondering just what she’d missed.

“In the end he saved me,” he admits quietly, “he stopped the drums in my head.”

“Drums….?” Rose quirks an eyebrow. “What like _actual_ drums?”

“ _No_ ,” he scowls at her. “They were sort of…telepathic…. I’ve been hearing them in my head since I was a child…the infinite schism.”

“What’s that?” Rose asks curiously.

“A tear in the fabric of time,” he explains easily, “when Gallifreyan children are accepted into the academy they must first look into the schism…. bit like a coming of age ceremony.”

“I see,” Rose nods even though it sounds wildly dangerous and not something she’d ever want her own children anywhere near.

“All I wanted,” he tells her pointedly, “all I bloody well wanted was the TARDIS. I wanted to get it running and get off this rock. I didn’t want your planet, I didn’t want the universe….I wanted to simply _leave_ … wander the universe, maybe even make myself as great a hero as your _precious_ Doctor was,” he finishes with each word dripping in sarcasm, a smirk curving his lips as he gazes at her.

“You know everything in that data-bank would tell me you’re making up this whole story just so I’ll let you in the TARDIS,” Rose sighs, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Look,” he says as he levels his gaze upon her. “Just let me help with your little bee problem. If you won’t let me leave this damn planet then at least give me something to _do,_ ” he says firmly, “ _or_ …. I’m sure I can find a way to entertain myself?” He lets the threat hang in the air and all Rose can imagine is him finding creative ways to wake her up in the early hours of morning or terrorize the maids by tinkering with the vacuum and making it do something _awful_.

“Well you’ve made it perfectly clear I can’t keep you here even if I wanted to,” Rose growls up at him, “I suppose I haven’t much of a choice, do I?”

“Nope,” he says as he pops the P delightfully and grins at her.

“Fine,” she snaps irritably, “but you will do as I say.”

“Yes _ma’am_ ,” he says as he mockingly salutes her.

“You sleep down here; you stay down here…. My family doesn’t want you in this house, your only here because I don’t trust Torchwood not to dissect you.”

“Excellent,” he says as he bends over to yank the black ankle bracelet off. “I can take this off then.”

“How long has that been broken!?” Rose nearly shouts as he stands up straight to grin at her.

“I got it off weeks ago,” he shrugs. “I just rigged it to look like it was still operational.”

Rose stares at him blankly for a moment, internally debating whether she wanted to scream in frustration or walk away. In the end, she walked away, and settled on the living room couch to watch TV until she fell asleep. She awakens to the sound of angry words harshly whispered in a language she hasn’t heard in years. When she finds, him he’s standing in the garden before the TARDIS. Her TARDIS key in his hand and the door to the TARDIS still firmly shut.

“Isomorphic controls,” Rose supplies easily as he stares at the key and then at her. “He wanted to make sure that I’m the only one that key will work for, and that I’ll be the only one who has access to the TARDIS…. just as a safety precaution.”

“Oh he _would_ ,” The Master rolls his eyes. “Bit of irony for you right there.”

“What do you mean?” Rose frowns at him.

“Long story…. a story from a life long ago that really does feel like ages…. ages and ages. I’m so _bored_ down here on your silly little planet Rose Tyler,” He sighs and extends the key out towards her, dangling the chain on his left index finger. She takes it back and tucks it away in the pocket of her pajama bottoms before regarding him quietly for a long while. He looks tired and worn, frustration wrinkles his brow and makes him fidget in a way that makes him look restless.

“He planned all this, didn’t he?” The Master says as he looks at her. “He set all this up…he planned on giving you the TARDIS.”

“He probably knew it would be safe here,” Rose shrugs. “Nobody’s going to come looking for a TARDIS in an alternate universe, especially in this one. There aren’t any other Time Lords here, or at least there weren’t until you showed up.”

“Figures,” he groans as he rubs his face. “I finally get some resemblance of my sanity back and I get stuck on _Earth_. I get stuck on Earth with a run-down TARDIS, a half-human half _something_ former companion, an entire _armada_ of idiot Torchwood lackeys, and your Mother’s cooking.”

“Hey,” Rose scolds lightly, “leave my Mother’s cooking out of this.”

“Your Mothers cooking has room for improvement,” he shakes his head lightly. “Honestly…you should hide the pepper.”

“What do you mean half _something_ former companion?” Rose frowns at him. “I’m entirely human thank you very much.”

“Don’t be _stupid_ ,” he says as if she’s being incredibly daft, “you couldn’t possibly be _entirely_ human after becoming Bad Wolf.”

“Well I haven’t exactly been manipulating temporal matter lately so I think we’re safe,” Rose says dryly.

“Have you even tried?” he asks, quirking an eyebrow at her.

“No,” Rose says skeptically, “I seriously doubt I can manipulate time. Believe me if I could I would have stopped you from blowing a hole in the side of my office.”

He regards her for a moment, wrinkling his nose in what could possibly be misconstrued as disgust before turning away from her. “It’s all too _coincidental_ ,” he frowns as he gazes up at the TARDIS. “He’d never have left her here if he knew she was dying. When a TARDIS dies all the firewalls drop and she gets bigger on the outside as well.”

“So you think he brought her specifically to me for a reason?” Rose says, stepping beside him to gaze upon the TARDIS also. “You think he’s got plans again?”

“Oh yes Rose Tyler,” he nods as he glances towards her. “The Valeyard’s been planning.”


	2. Silence In The Galaxy Part Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own any of it or make any money from any of it, all of it belongs to those who created Doctor Who.

The following morning he’s sitting at the breakfast table reading the newspaper while Rose finishes her breakfast. Her Mum is hesitant about letting him free but Rose reassured her it would be fine. Rose also mentioned that Tosh had a new Taser gun she wanted to try out if the Master got out of hand. This was enough to make him choke a little on his morning tea, and it satisfied her Mum to see him look nervous. When he’d cleared his throat, he gave Rose a contemptuous look to which she returned with a smug smile as she took a bite of her eggs.  Later when the table was cleared he disappeared upstairs after mentioning the need for a shower so Rose busied herself by washing up. 

“He’s been up there for _ages_ ,” Jackie says a little nervously, trying to sound casual but the uneasy expression she wore sent Rose upstairs to find out what he was doing. She finds him rummaging in her parent’s room, rummaging through Pete’s clothes.

“What are you doing?” Rose says as she watches him search through Pete’s suits.

“I need clothes,” he tells her pointedly, “I look ridiculous in this jumpsuit.”

 “I can buy you some later,” Rose sighs as she watches him check the size tags on a set of black slacks.

“I need some _now_ ,” he replies and rolls his eyes like she was being unreasonably difficult and a little bit stupid. She falls silent and lets him continue until he lets out an irritated huff of frustration and looks at her. “You’re Father could use a few laps around the track once and a while. Honestly….these trousers are _huge_.”

“Rude,” Rose scowls at him and snatches the black slacks he waved at her from his hands and tosses them on the bed.

“ _Excuse me_ ,” he says as he snatches them back off the bed. “I said they were huge I didn’t say I wasn’t going to tolerate it.”

“Then stop your complaining and get changed,” Rose says and crosses her arms.

“Can’t rush _perfection_ ,” he says in a sing-song voice while he digs at the back of the closet for a suit jacket. “Find me a shirt will you? Some socks too.”

Rose glares at the back of his head but does as he asks, disliking how he bosses her about like she’s his maid. She walks across the room and pulls out a pressed white shirt and a pair of black socks from a nearby drawer. When she turns to face him he’s stripping down to his boxers and she immediately turns her gaze towards the window.

“What?” He asks as she holds out her arm to extend the shirt and socks towards him. “Bit shy Rose Tyler?” He says teasingly while he shimmies into the black slacks he’d found. “Oh go on and look if you like, don’t think I didn’t see you peeking when you caught me in the shower the other morning.”

“I wasn’t peeking!” Rose says, outraged, “you were dangling your leg out of the flippin’ shower!”

“Honestly,” he says playfully, “I was surprised by your gall; I didn’t think you had it in you. Always thought you were pure as snow….a snow white _Rose_.”

“Oh shut it!” Rose says but she’s smiling and trying hard not to giggle at the playfully coy face he’s making while he buttons up his shirt. She takes a breath to settle herself and leaves the room, opting instead to wait for him in the living room. He comes downstairs twenty minutes later sporting one of Pete’s black Armani suits and a pair of his polished loafers.

“I look as though I’m about to go out and smuggle things under my clothes,” he sulks mildly, admiring himself in the reflection of the glass doors in one of her Mothers cabinets. “I’ll need an overcoat as well,” he remarks more to himself than to Rose, “Probably a trim too….my hair…Rose do you think my hair’s a bit to light? Maybe I should darken it…I could do that,” he mutters to himself.

“Honestly you pose in front a mirror more than my Mother does,” Rose rolls her eyes.

“Presentation is _everything_ Rose Tyler,” He points out as he glances towards her in the reflection of the glass.

“It’s _Rose,_ ” she says as she gets to her feet. “No need for formality,” then as if in afterthought she points out, “I’ve already seen you half naked.”

“That you did,” he smirks at her. “You can use _my_ name too.”

“I’d rather not,” Rose half smiles and looks at him incredulously. “I’m not calling you that.”

“But it’s my _name_ ,” he mockingly pouts. “How do you think I feel having to call you _Rose_?”

“I seriously doubt that’s your real name,” Rose shakes her head, still smiling.

“Fine then,” he sighs dramatically. “Harry it is.”

“Harry?” Rose raises an eyebrow. “Why Harry?”

“It’s a name I used once,” he smiles at her knowingly and follows her out to her car.

 

                                                         

* * *

 

 

               When they arrived at the Torchwood building Rose took him through security, had an employee security card made for him and once that was settled she clipped it to his lapel and led him up to her level. Her department was located on level four, and when the elevator doors clicked open they could hear the sound of classical music echoing through the corridors.

“Oh yes,” he muses lightly, “your employees must be _terribly_ busy defending the planet.”

“What’s going on here then?” Rose asks as they round the corner, spying Tosh and Owen carefully stepping to and fro in a square like pattern. They jump apart the moment Tosh sees Rose and she fumbles quickly to straighten herself, presenting Rose with a cheery smile before responding. “I um…well,” Tosh begins nervously at first, her cheeks flushed bright pink, “I was um…well Owen was just…. he was just showing me…”

“I was teaching her to waltz.” Owen adds on quickly.

“Yes,” Tosh nods. “I have this…party to go to tonight, it’s black tie and I’ve never waltzed before and I didn’t want to make a fool of myself and---…”

“It’s alright,” Rose smiles and waves it off. “Not a big deal.”

“Why’s he here?” Tosh says as she spots the Master standing just behind Rose near the doorway.

“It’s _Harry_ ,” Rose tells them both, “And he’s helping us.”

“Hello!” The Master waves cheerfully from behind Rose.

“Why?” Owen says as he crosses his arms.

“Because I asked him too,” Rose tells them both pointedly, “he can talk to the bees.”

“We don’t need to talk to the bees,” Tosh argues.

“We need him,” Rose sighs. “You two _know_ we need him.”

“We don’t even know what’s going on out there,” Owen says, “were not even sure if there _is_ something going on.”

“Oh there is,” The Master cuts in, “I noticed when I arrived on your boring little planet that it was awfully quiet among the surrounding planets.”

“Silent?” Tosh frowns at him.

“Yes,” he nods. “Silent….no traffic…no radio activity….. _except_ on your planet. Don’t you find that odd?”

“Yes,” Tosh says, “I did notice it was a little quiet suddenly.”

“Yes,” The Master agrees as Rose leads him over towards the unclassified bins. “Imagine,” he says as he kneels down and starts digging through the bins. “That the all the planets are sea anemones, and space is the ocean. Now in the anemones all the sea creatures…that’s us….live in these anemones… Imagine everybody buzzing about and minding their own business and then suddenly along comes a shark. Everybody retreats into their respective anemone and hides, remaining completely silent so that the shark won’t notice them. Now imagine one stupid little fish fluttering about totally unaware of the shark….that’s Earth.”

“You know I’m pretty sure he just made a reference to _Finding Nemo_ ,” Owen remarks dryly.

“And _I’m_ also pretty sure he just compared our planet to a clown fish,” Tosh adds.

“He likes cartoons,” Rose explains quickly and turns back to watch the master dig through the bins, muttering to himself as he goes.

“Useless….Useless….broken….broken….why the _hell_ do you have this?” He says, pausing to hold up a dark purple object the width of Roses forearm.

“What is it?” Rose asks curiously.

“It’s a _pacifier_ ,” The Master says, rolling his eyes and tossing it over his shoulder with the rest of the junk.

“For _what_?” Rose asks with her eyes as wide as saucers as she glances back at the oversized pacifier.

“You _don’t_ want to know,” he mutters in reply and continues to dig.

“So what’s he doing in the bin then?” Tosh asks as she comes to stand beside Rose and watch the Master as well.

“He’s looking for parts that he can use to repair the TARDIS so we can power her up and use the scanners to check the surrounding galaxy,” Rose explains easily.

“You sure about this Rose?” Owen asks, prodding hesitantly at the so called ‘pacifier’ with mild distaste.

“No, but he’s our best chance right now.” Rose says as she watches the Master toss yet another bit of rubbish over one shoulder, a heavy piece of gray metal that nearly smacks Owen right across the face as it whizzes by him.

“Took her ages to work that out,” The Master comments lightly.

“Good thing she’s listening then,” Tosh shoots back, giving him a withering look.

“ _Finally_ ,” the Master retorts with a roll of his eyes.

“Wow,” Owen says dryly, “you’re going to be buckets of fun.”

“I really am,” The Master reassures him with a saucy smirk. “Loads and loads.”

They let him work; watch him sift through bin after bin of unclassified items. They eventually break for lunch and Rose returns with bags of chips and Tosh makes tea. Eventually he stops long enough to eat, makes idle remarks about how humans eat all the time and because of it they never notice the alien invasions or the generally weird things that happen around them. Rose eventually cuffs him around the ears for his remarks before Owen can knock his teeth in.

               After he’s done eating he returns to his work, completely absorbed in what he’s doing. He hardly hears them talking, doesn’t notice Tosh and Owen leave for the night while Rose finishes paperwork in her office. Finally somewhere around nine at night he appears in the doorway of her office and declares that he is finished searching.

“I found what I need,” he says as he motions to a bin of oddly colored objects behind him. “I’ll need to take all that back to the TARDIS.”

“Is the TARDIS that bad off you think?” Rose asks, leaning to the side to look at the bin behind him.

“No, just extra precaution really,” he says as he watches her stand and grab her coat. She puts everything away and flips off the lights to her office and the department level before the two of them head down to her car. “I’m going to need bits and pieces from all of it, the equivalent of making repairs out of paper-mache and glue.”

“But it will hold right?” Rose frowns up at him as they get into the car and head back towards her house.

“Yes,” he sighs. “Until we can find another planet that has better parts.”

Rose nods, the idea of leaving this planet rolling around in her mind like a top spinning in circles. It sounded fantastic and yet she wasn’t entirely sure she trusted the Master yet. For all she knew he could be building some kind of device that could destroy the whole planet. When they get home he goes to the garage and raids Pete’s tool box before shutting himself away in the basement.

 

                                                         

* * *

 

 

She seems him infrequently, he only appears in the kitchen when he’s hungry or he wants tea. He only talks to anyone when he needs something and whenever Rose goes to the basement to check on him he’s surrounded by scrap metal and oddly shapes pieces of machinery scattered across the basement floor all around him. He’s kept it contained to his cell; simply for the fact that he didn’t want Jackie touching anything when she came down to do the laundry.

“Tell your Mother to stay out of the basement,” he says with his back to her, crouched down on a low stool while he uses his bed as a makeshift table.

“We’ve got to do the laundry,” Rose sighs.

“Then let me move all this to the TARDIS,” He responds without so much as a side glance, fitting two pieces of silvery looking metal together.

“I may have to,” Rose runs a hand through her hair. “Mum is going mental what with the mess you’re making in here.”

“I’m slaving away to save your stupid little planet and she’s complaining about the mess?” He turns on the stool to sneer at her, disgust in his eyes.

“You’re helping me because it benefits _you_ ,” Rose scowls at him. “You want off this planet and in order to do that you need to fix the TARDIS.”

He falls silent at that and ignores her for the rest of the night, toiling away into the early hours. He wakes her up at six in the morning, as she rolls over blurry eyed and half-awake to look at him. “What?”

“Get up,” he tells her, “I need to get into the TARDIS and start the repairs.”

“It’s six in the morning,” she groans loudly, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

“Yes,” he says, “And the fate of your planet is currently hanging in the balance. I would think that should take priority over your beauty sleep Rose Tyler.”

“Rose,” she corrects him as she climbs out of bed and pulls on her robe.

“I’ll put the kettle on,” he says after a moment of watching her stumble across her bedroom and into her bathroom. He goes down to the kitchen and makes her tea while she sleepily washes her face and pulls on a pair of sweat pants and one of her baggy shirts that she wears to go jogging in. When she reaches the bottom of the staircase he’s already waiting with a cup of tea and an oblong looking device under one arm. He hands her the tea and then places his now free hand on her shoulder to urge her towards the backyard. “Only the fate of the planet Rose Tyler,” he sighs as she slowly makes her way to the TARDIS. “No pressure.”

“ _I’m going_ ,” she growls at him sharp enough to make him move his hand away from her shoulder and let her make her way to the TARDIS at her own speed. She sips the tea he’s given her and gives a soft moan of appreciation. He certainly does know how she likes her tea that’s for sure; the way he’s fixed it was absolutely perfect.

“You’re welcome,” he huffs quietly while she unlocks the TARDIS door and steps aside so he can go in.

“Thank you,” Rose replies as she follows him in, gazing around the dark console room; the only light coming from outside as she opens the door.

“I’m going to need lights,” he grimaces as he looks around. “This place looks like a bloody trash heap. What’s he done too it?”

“I think it looks lovely,” Rose sighs nostalgically as she looks around. He’s changed the desktop many times over by now, and as bizarre as it was to see a different console room she knew it was still the same TARDIS.

“Well,” he says sarcastically, “not counting for taste then.”

“Don’t be an ass,” Rose scolds lightly, “she won’t thank you for insulting her especially if she can hear you.”

“Find me some lights, will you?” He says as he waves a hand towards the TARDIS corridors beyond the console room.

 

                                                         

* * *

 

 

 

               Rose glares at him for a moment before grabbing an emergency flashlight from a nearby cabinet and tentatively following the pitch black corridor towards where she hoped was the storage room. “So if she’s not dead…. theoretically the corridors will still lead me where I need to go right?”

When he doesn’t answer, she glances back towards the console room and grimaces when she sees nothing but darkness behind her. “Oh I bloody well hope you’re still working,” Rose says to the TARDIS as she continues to follow the ever-changing corridors towards the storage room.

               She finds the storage room in relatively the same place…give or take a few doors. It takes her a couple of minutes but she finds a string of lights the Doctor who wasn’t probably used for emergencies. She gathers them up and carries them back to the console room; thankfully the corridors were still working and changed accordingly to her destination.

“Maybe not so asleep after all,” Rose says as she pats the corridor walls lovingly, even though the metal beneath her hands was cold and unresponsive.

                                                     

* * *

 

 

“Took you long enough,” the Master scowls at her when she returns with the lights.

“I wasn’t sure where the storage room was,” Rose says as she dumps the lights down onto the pilot seat.

“Well make yourself useful and start hanging the lights,” The Master says patiently though the muscle in his jaw twitches with agitation.

“Alright _look_ ,” Rose snaps as she whirls around to face him. “You don’t get to boss me around…I’m not your maid, I’m not your servant. You shut your mouth if you don’t have anything nice to say do I make myself clear?”

He quirks an eyebrow and regards her thoughtfully but says nothing, nodding slightly in her general direction. She gives him a withering look before she starts to hang the lights, using a ladder she finds overturned across the console room to hang lights in the corridor. Once the console room and connecting corridor are well lite she finishes her tea and watches him work.

“Rose Tyler if you would be so kind as to hand me that wrench?” he says after a long while, motioning towards a silver handled device sticking out of what looked to be the Doctor’s tool box.

“It’s Rose,” she corrects him gently and grabs the wrench from the box and hands it to him.

“I don’t see why I have to call you _Rose_ if you won’t call me _Master_ ,” he counters as he twists a bolt into place on the rotor.

“I’m not calling you that,” Rose suppresses a smile. “On my planet that would imply dominance.”

“And on mine the word _Rose_ doesn’t even exist in that context, however on yours it would imply a form of beauty or even _affection_ …I hardly think it’s appropriate to call you _Rose_.”

“Then what would you rather call me?” she sighs softly.

He smiles at her as he ponders silently until the rotor lights up and he lets out a cheer of triumph. “Finally!” He climbs out from under the console and walks around the room, watching the rotor power up.

“It’s going to take a bit for her to power up completely,” He says as he watches the lights flicker on the console as he pieces it back together. “A couple of days and she _might_ be able to hover.”

“How about the scanner?” Rose asks as she follows his movements around the room.

“That,” he says as he motions to the cracked screen of the monitor. “Won’t take as long…a couple of hours and she might have the power to do a scan over the surrounding galaxy,” he explains as he continues to piece the console back together. “I’d rather not push her to hard,” He tells her quickly, “I don’t know how long the repairs will hold up and we need to be able to make it to another planet that’s got the parts I need to improve it.”

Rose nods, watches him work for a little longer before she wanders down the corridors to a place she hasn’t been too in a long while. She didn’t trust him enough to leave him alone in the TARDIS, so she would stay on board until she did. At the moment, all she wanted to do was go back to bed, and when she arrived at the beautiful wooden door with her name carved into its frame she cried a little, running her fingers over the delicate flowers weaved into the wood around her name.

Inside she finds her room the way she left it, save for a few overturned items and a lot of dust. She has to manually strip down the bed and remake it because the TARDIS didn’t have the power to do it for her, and once she’s satisfied its clean enough to sleep in she curls up under the blankets and quickly falls asleep, lulled by the humming sound of the TARDIS as she gathers her strength.

 

                                                       

* * *

 

 

 

               He wakes her around noon via the intercom, his voice crackling quietly through the speaker just outside her door. “Rose Tyler,” he says, “I’ve got the scanner working and you really should see this.”

She stumbles out of bed groggily, runs a hand through her hair and rubs the sleep from her eyes. She hasn’t slept that well in months, and she was almost mournful to leave the comfort of such a lovely bed. She realizes as she’s fumbling for the light switch that the Master must have turned the heating up for her, because the chill that had greeted her in the dark of her old room the night before had been sharp. She finds that the corridors are now lite properly; the TARDIS lighting system had finally come back online. It was warm in the corridors too, and slowly getting cleaner which could only mean that the TARDIS has woken up and realized how dirty everything had gotten.

She always disliked being dirty, would scold both she _and_ the Doctor who wasn’t if they left things lying about by shocking them occasionally whenever they touched a hand rail or leaned against the console. When she makes her way into the console room it’s not as well lite as the corridors which meant he probably diverted power to the section of the ship she was in. She could see him though in the dim light, his face illuminated by the green glow of the console. It reminded her of the time she’d first seen the Doctor after he’d regenerated, standing before the console as he prepared the TARDIS for departure.

“Look at the monitor,” he says motioning towards the cracked screen of the monitor which hung just above the console. Rose stepped forward, folding her arms across her chest as she gazed up, billions of stars and darkness dancing across the screen as the TARDIS scanned the galaxy. “What do you see Rose Tyler?”

“Nothing,” Rose says with a frown. Her eyes searched insistently for something that wasn’t quite right but found nothing. “Just…. space…. darkness… _nothing_.”

“Exactly,” he says pointedly, “ _darkness_.”

“What do you mean?” Rose says as she steps away to let him have a look.

“Look at this,” he says as he motions towards the screen. “Now use that little ape brain of yours, tell me that this doesn’t look odd to you? The whole damn galaxy hasn’t just gone silent, it’s gone _dark_.”

“Space is _supposed_ to be dark,” Rose says dryly.

“No,” he rolls his eyes. “Really _look_ ,” he urges her, “all of the planets have shut down _everything_. Lights, power grids…. anything electronic, anything that makes even the slightest bit of noise.”

“Why?” Rose asks as she looks at the screen. “Why go dark like that? What are they hiding from?”

“That,” he says quietly, “Rose Tyler is an excellent question.”

She watches him adjust the monitor, flipping a few switches on the console before looking at her. “The TARDIS scanner is adjusted to scan for metal…anything with a radar signature, I wonder what would happen if we set it for all types of life forms?”

She watches him press a few buttons and the screen flickers to black and then lights up again, illuminated by an array of different colors.  He steps beside her and points at the screen. “ _There_.”

Rose squints at the monitor, eyeing the red blob of _something_ on the screen as it steadily moves closer towards the Earth. “What _is_ that?”

“I don’t know,” he says as he adjusts the monitor, zooming in. The blob slowly takes shape, steadily becomes an enormous mass. The Master sucks in a sharp breath and when she looks at him all the color has drained out of his face.

“What is it?” Rose asks, worried by his expression.

“It can’t be,” he says quietly, “That’s impossible.”

“OK,” Rose says pointedly, “rule number one about being on the TARDIS…. we never say _that’s impossible_. Every time the Doctor said that something really bad happened.”

“Well,” he swallows thickly, his dark eyes flickering over the screen. “Something really bad _is_ going to happen.”

“What is that?” Rose repeats earnestly, turning to face him as he stares at the screen with an unreadable expression.

“It’s a planet eater,” he tells her quietly, “a science experiment the Daleks created for the Time War.”

“A _planet eater_?” Rose says incredulously, “what like…it literally _eats_ the planet?”

“No,” the Master shakes his head. “It soaks up all of the precious vitamins and minerals in the planet, water…. everything….it drains the planet dry of all its nutrients and then moves on to the next planet. Why send in an invasion to kill the people when you can kill they’re planet? The planet dies, they’ll die with it.”

Rose stares at him blankly for a moment before looking at the scanner again. “It looks like a whale…. but it’s…. ten times as big as a cruise ship…how do we stop it?”

“Well,” the Master begins tentatively, “back in the Time War they only ever made a few of them. The Daleks ended the project when they realized the creatures they had created were too unpredictable and dangerous to trust…one of them even tried to eat Skaro.”

“So?” Rose pressed on.

“So,” he says quietly, “they killed them all except one, because that one escaped. Why do you think we were losing the Time War Rose Tyler?” He frowns at her. “Our military was divided between fighting off the Daleks and fending off a planet eater.”

“So we stop it _how_?” Rose urges pointedly.

“We _don’t,_ ” He frowns at her. “Your planet’s nuclear weapons wouldn’t be strong enough to even put a _dent_ in its armor…imagine Dalek shielding but twice as strong.”

 “Surely there’s a way to stop it,” Rose says, “how did your people do it?”

“We had the weapons and the technological means to pierce the outer armor of one of those things…your planet does not,” he says, and silently Rose wonders if he’s scared.

“What about the Daleks? How did they contain them?” Rose persists, “maybe we could contain it?”

“They kept them encaged inside a small cubicle box that contained they’re enormous size via a miniaturization ray,” He replies simply, “if you’ve got one of those lying around we could theoretically do that instead.”

“Fresh out,” Rose frowns at the monitor. “This is really bad.”

“Very,” The Master agrees, staring at the screen with a blank expression. Rose begins to worry that he hasn’t a clue how to stop this whale.

 “All those other planets, “Rose says irritably, “all those other people knew that thing was coming and they didn’t even _try_ to warn us!”

“ _Why_?” The Master replies sardonically, “when the human species is providing such an excellent distraction for the planet eater? It’s you or them.”

Rose thinks on this a moment before answering, “You said it yourself,” Rose tells him, “you won’t have enough power to do so much as _hover_ for a couple of days. That thing could be here in _hours,_ you _have_ to help us!”

“I told you what to do,” he grounds out, “run…leave… _evacuate the planet_ Rose Tyler because there isn’t another bloody way!”

“There _has_ to be another way,” Rose says stubbornly.

“We’ll if you’ve got any better ideas by all means,” he says in frustration, “we’ve only got about twelve hours before that thing gets here.”

 

                                                                 

* * *

 

 

“So you’re telling me there’s a gigantic planet eating whale coming to kill us all?” Owen says skeptically, “and who said taking a desk job at Torchwood would be boring.”

“I’ve already told you what you need to do,” the Master insists, “I haven’t got any way to stop it.”

“Lovely,” Owen says as he taps his pen against the desk he’s leaning on. “Just bloody wonderful.”

“There must be another way?” Tosh asks and the Master rolls his eyes, having heard that question _far_ too many times today.

“There isn’t,” The Master insists, “so start _evacuating_.”

“We can’t evacuate an entire planet in twelve hours!” Owen argues with a frown. “We don’t even have the means to evacuate everyone.”

 “We can’t evacuate,” Rose agrees as she returns from the cafeteria with several cups of hot tea, “we’re going to find another way.”

“Twelve hours and counting Rose Tyler,” The Master says, “try not to doddle too long.”

“Alright,” Rose says once everyone has their tea, “I need to know everything you know about those whales.”

“They live in space,” The Master says, “ _obviously_ …they don’t need oxygen, they seek out galaxies with enough planets to sustain them and live off of those planets for years until the food supply runs out. Then they go off and find another galaxy to feed on.”

“The vitamins and minerals they collect are like oxygen for them right?” Tosh asks as the wheels in her mind begin to turn.

“Exactly,” The Master nods.

“Hmm,” Rose says as she ponders this, “oh…. _Oh_!”

“What?” Tosh brightens, hope in her eyes.

“Tosh call Massie on three and tell her I need her to search every bloody inch of this building, every cabinet and every closet for anything that looks remotely like a miniaturization ray of any kind…I need something to work with…and you,” she says as she turns to the Master. “I think it’s time you met Betsy.”

 

                                         

* * *

 

 

Betsy was a class five Dorlari star cruiser, according to the Master. They’d found her in a trash heap on the edge of London about a year ago. Tosh had managed to restore the ship and get the computer working again, she was even flyable. They kept her out at the airport in an underground bunker filled with old junk gathered from years of collecting alien artefacts.

“We can take her up into space,” Rose explains, “she’s no TARDIS but she’ll do.”

“Yes,” The Master agrees, “However your friend Massie never found what you asked for…how do you propose we make up for that end of the plan?”

Rose sighs and stares up at Betsy, both sad and tired. Finally she shakes her head and closes her eyes, “I don’t know honestly…I’ll think of something I always do. I’ve been in tighter spots than this before….” and then as if an afterthought, “the Doctor always knew what to do.”

She sees him visibly stiffen at her comment and she immediately regrets her words. They came out without her even thinking about it; she never meant to insult him. Than as she started to apologize he cut her off, his eyes alight with something unreadable.

“We may not have a miniaturization ray,” he tells her adamantly as he digs out an old plasma gun from a storage bin across the room. “But I can build one.”

“You think you can build one in the little time we have left?” Rose asks skeptically.

“That data-bank failed to enlighten you on one fact about me Rose Tyler,” he tells her pointedly, “I was always better at the technical stuff than the Doctor was. I once made a rocket fly using _food_.”

With that he sets off with a determined step, gathering pieces of junk from all around the underground bunker where they kept Betsy. Rose watches him for a moment and feels a little guilty. He probably felt like he had to prove himself now. 

                                                         

* * *

 

 

Betsy was a class five Dorlari star cruiser, according to the Master. They’d found her in a trash heap on the edge of London about a year ago. Tosh had managed to restore the ship and get the computer working again, she was even flyable. They kept her out at the airport in an underground bunker filled with old junk gathered from years of collecting alien artefacts.

“We can take her up into space,” Rose explains, “she’s no TARDIS but she’ll do.”

“Yes,” The Master agrees, “However your friend Massie never found what you asked for…how do you propose we make up for that end of the plan?”

Rose sighs and stares up at Betsy, both sad and tired. Finally she shakes her head and closes her eyes, “I don’t know honestly…I’ll think of something I always do. I’ve been in tighter spots than this before….” and then as if an afterthought, “the Doctor always knew what to do.”

She sees him visibly stiffen at her comment and she immediately regrets her words. They came out without her even thinking about it; she never meant to insult him. Than as she started to apologize he cut her off, his eyes alight with something unreadable.

“We may not have a miniaturization ray,” he tells her adamantly as he digs out an old plasma gun from a storage bin across the room. “But I can build one.”

“You think you can build one in the little time we have left?” Rose asks skeptically.

“That data-bank failed to enlighten you on one fact about me Rose Tyler,” he tells her pointedly, “I was always better at the technical stuff than the Doctor was. I once made a rocket fly using _food_.”

With that he sets off with a determined step, gathering pieces of junk from all around the underground bunker where they kept Betsy. Rose watches him for a moment and feels a little guilty. He probably felt like he had to prove himself now. 

                                                       

* * *

 

               He spends hours building the ray, attaching it to the underside of Betsy and connecting the wires and controls through the main console inside the ship. She sends Tosh to help him, figures he’d need the help and he sends her away with a nasty remark and withering look in Roses general direction.

“What did you _say_?” Tosh asks quietly as the two of them watch him from a distance as he works.

“I mentioned that the Doctor would have known what to do about the miniaturization ray… and I _think_ he might thought I was comparing him to the Doctor and got offended,” Rose explains a little sheepishly.

“We’ll do it again if you need to,” Tosh says with raised eyebrows. “He’s far more cooperative if he thinks he has to one up the Doctor.”

                                                                   

* * *

 

 

They’ve got a little under thirty minutes when he’s done, and by then everybody is starting to get panicky. “Thank you,” Rose says with a smile as she pats his shoulder and climbs up into the ship. He stares after her for a moment before following.  Rose powers up the ship while he tests the controls for the ray gun.

“You two be careful,” Owen says over a walkie-talkie Rose took with her, “and hurry up…once it reaches Earth I don’t know what the hell were going to do.”

 “Alright,” Rose responds, “you two stay safe.”

“If you’re all quite done with the touching sentiments we _do_ have a planet eating whale to stop,” the Master comments a little flatly.

“Right,” Rose says as she prepares for take-off. “Hang on to something,” she adds as an afterthought as the whole ship hums like a washing machine off balance and the engines steadily reach full power. Then the unthinkable happens, which is something Rose was entirely used too. The engine gives out and the humming of the ship dies down to silence. The Master glares at her and then back at the engine. “Fusion engines…. bloody useless.”

“What happened?” Owen asks over the crackling speaker of the walkie-talkie.

“Engine’s shut down,” Rose responds, “let me fix it.”

“Oh yes,” The Master says as he heads towards the back of the ship. “As if _you_ know how to fix a fusion drive engine!”

“Let me _help,_ ” she insists as the two of them pull off the cover.

“You don’t know what to do and I don’t have time to teach you!” He argues as he checks over the engine before pulling out wires and clipping the ends. “The damn plasma starter has burned out…it’s fixable just give me a bit.”

“Oi,” Owen says over the speaker, “Is it fixable or what?”

“Yes,” Rose replies, “just give us a minute.”

“We don’t _have_ a minute Rose,” Owen argues over the speaker urgently.

The Master eventually gives in and allows her to help, sending her to retrieve new parts while he pulls out the old ones. She hands them over and he switches them out along with the wires that needed to be replaced. With the engine repaired they replace the cover and rush back to the main console.

 “Just give me a second Owen!” she shouts over the walkie-talkie as they power up the ship and wait for the bay doors to open.

“We don’t have a second Rose!” He shouts adamantly, “It’s already attacking the planet!”

“Two minutes!” Tosh yells in the background over the walkie-talkie. The speaker crackles and smacks hard against the metal grating. Owen must have dropped the walkie-talkie, Rose figures. The whole bunker is shaking violently and the wind has picked up dramatically outside as if a hurricane had suddenly appeared and began tearing up Cardiff.

“Here we go,” Rose says as Tosh opens the bay doors. They take off and Rose is a little nervous at first, she’d only flown it once and she’d nearly hit a building.

Not that she planned on telling the Master that.

As they get higher into the air they can see great spouts of water and dirt furling like tunnels up into the sky, people ran through the streets as they tried to find places to hide. The panic below made Rose grimace and feel a little more than guilty, it made her feel like a failure.

“Watch out!” The Master shouts as a car is flung at them from the great hurricane like water spouts, dirt and debris thrown in every direction. Rose jerks the wheel and the ship whips off to the left, narrowly dodging the car. The wind is howling around them, making it difficult for them to gain altitude. The Master isn’t even speaking English at this point while he fumbles with the controls and prepares the ship for breaching the atmosphere.

“I can’t gain altitude!” Rose says frantically after a moment, let’s out a little cry of fear when a tree narrowly hits the wind screen but instead scraps against the top of the ship and hurtles off towards the ground beneath them.

“Then use the booster rockets!” he says as he preps the ray gun.

“I don’t know which button that is!” Rose says nervously, struggling to keep her eyes on the sky in case of debris.

“Haven’t you ever flown this before?” He asks with narrowed eyes and very little patience.

“Yeah but it’s not like the damn thing came with a manual or anything!” Rose shouts just as the ship jolts roughly, debris scrapping along the sides and rattling the ship.

The Master sighs heavily and peevishly searches for the right button before flipping a couple of switches over Roses head, “There…and _don’t hit that_!” he says as another water spout whirls just a few yards ahead of them. Somehow Rose manages to steer them to safety, with the help of the booster rockets they soar high above the clouds and into the thin atmosphere.

“Shielding up,” the Master mutters while he flips switches and Rose steers. The hit the atmosphere a little roughly, and Rose holds her breath for a few seconds while they clear it and reach space.

“There it is,” Rose says in an awed voice, the glittering blue whale like creature flowing through space like a whale would water. “It’s beautiful.”

“It’s _deadly_ ,” the Master retorts with a sigh as he arms the ray gun.

“Just shrink it,” Rose says, “we’ve got thirty seconds until that thing hits the atmosphere!”

“ _Like so_ ,” he says as he pulls the trigger with a smug smirk.

The whale shrinks and Rose drops back into the seat, takes a deep breath and sighs. “ _Thank you_.”

“Like I said---…” he begins but Rose cuts him off.

“I know,” she says, “it would have been easier to just run away. We took the hard road instead and instead of losing the Earth and billions of lives along with it…. we saved it.”

“Right well,” he says as he clears his throat and Rose could have sworn for a moment she thought he was blushing. “Your whale is getting away.”

“Crap!” Rose says as she turns the ship around and chases after the miniaturized whale that was currently trying to escape. 

 

                                                       

* * *

 

 

               Her plan had worked, Rose was pleased. She managed to save the earth and even found a home for the whale. There was minimal damage to the planet and apparently what they’d seen was only the beginning of what it _could_ have done. They captured the whale and put it in a fish bowl Rose had filled with water and soil and brought along with them. When they reached the docking bay back at the airport Owen was waiting with a Torchwood vehicle. Owen drove, and took them out to the ocean while Rose held onto the fishbowl and Tosh admired the glittering little creature.

“It’s adorable isn’t it?” Rose smiles as the two of them watch the little blue whale swim around the fish bowl.

“It was about to _eat_ your planet Rose Tyler,” the Master says, “I would think you’d feel a bit alarmed by its presence.”

“It was only doing what was in its nature to do,” Rose replies, “I can’t be angry with it for that.”

               Cardiff was a mess but Owen managed to navigate traffic just enough reach the docks. Rose led them out to Pete’s boat, a deep-sea fishing boat that he bought on a whim years ago but only took it out and sailed it occasionally. Together, Owen, Tosh, Rose and the Master all went out on the sea, which proved to be a little rocky after the disturbance from earlier.

“I’m going to be sick,” Owen groans as Rose leans out just enough off the stern of the boat where people would dock with smaller boats to climb on board. She gently lets the whale out into the water, watches it swim around with mild confusion. The Master then having managed to remove the ray gun from the ship and mount it to something portable aims the gun and resizes the whale to an appropriate size.

“He should be alright now,” Rose says to them, “He doesn’t need oxygen but nutrients from the planet. At that size he should be able to feed off the planet without harming it and the ocean will be something similar to space.”

“That’s really brilliant actually,” Tosh says as she steps beside Rose, watching the whale swim off. “You think it’ll be alright around the other sea creatures?”

“Oh yes,” the Master cuts in, “It’s genetically similar to the whales found on your planet because it was genetically engineered with a combination of multiple DNA strands. It will most likely blend into its environment and nobody will be the wiser.”

“Will it stay that small?” Owen asks worriedly, “it won’t suddenly return to its original size right?”

“No,” the Master shook his head. “I programmed the ray to make it permanent this time. His genetic structure has been altered to fit the size I set it for.”

“Good,” Owen nods.

“Alright I’m hungry,” Tosh says as she starts down into the living compartment of the boat. “You lot join us when you’re ready.” Owen follows her down, looking particularly green and not interested in food in the least. The Master stands on deck with her while Rose watches the whale swim off, something of sorrow flickering in her eyes.

“You can’t save them all you know,” he points out quietly.

“I know,” she replies just as softly.

“I should know,” he says, “I’m rather good at schemes...the Doctor couldn’t save everyone all the time either.”

“I just wanted to save _someone_ ,” she says softly, “I try and try to save them all….I try to protect this planet but I just keep screwing up.”

“You and the Doctor,” he sighs. “You’re so much alike.”

“You helped me today when you didn’t have to,” Rose says softly, “you could have just stole Betsy and legged it but you didn’t…. thank you.”

He doesn’t say anything for so long that she wonders if she’s offended him again when he replies, “We’ll I had to save the TARDIS didn’t I?”

“How did it get here anyways?” Rose ponders aloud, “from the Time War?”

“No idea,” the Master responds, “probably the same way I got here….”

“Which means there must be a hole in the wall between universes somewhere,” Rose surmises.

“Yes” he agrees, “I’ll have to mend that once I get the TARDIS fixed properly.”

“Going to take a while I think,” Rose replies, “she’s in pretty bad shape.”

“That she is,” he nods. “However I imagine I can fix her…did that databank ever tell you the story of how I made a rocket fly using food?”

“No,” Rose smiles at him. “Though I think you’re going to tell me.”

“ _Oh,_ ” he sighs dramatically but she can see the teasing glitter in his eyes. “If you insist.”

Rose smiles to herself but says nothing before she turns to head back up to the wheel house. “Ever sailed a boat before?”

“Yes,” the Master says as he follows her. “I’m over a thousand year’s old Rose Tyler, I’m certain I’ve sailed a boat at one point or another, why?”

“You wanna drive?” She grins cheekily at him.

“Oh _fine_ ,” he huffs as he takes the wheel while Rose drops down onto the passenger seat.

 “You recall my incredible talents behind the wheel of Betsy,” she laughs. “I would think you’d never want me to drive again.”

“You _were_ a bit frightening,” he admits, “however I was a little more worried about the TARDIS being eaten.”

“It’s been eaten before,” she shrugs. “She’s a tough old girl.”

“True,” he agrees with a nod.

She lets him drive all the way back to Cardiff and he tells her the story of how he ended up at the end of the universe and lost his memory, became an old man and built a rocket that used food as fuel. She thinks he sails much better than she ever could and that he must have a lot of stories to tell...just like the Doctor did. The sun is setting behind them just as they pull up to the docks and Rose thinks as she watches the bright sunshine disappear into the horizon that everybody deserves a second chance….even planet eating whales.


	3. Bogeyman

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own any of it or make any money from any of it, all of it belongs to those who created Doctor Who.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When the children of London start to go missing, it is up to the Torchwood team to find them.

It’s a lovely summer afternoon, the bright sun shining down on the house below it. The breeze is soft and sweet, it makes the two boys walking home together after their last day of school long to stay outside and play.

“It’s all a load of rubbish,” says the dark haired boy named Greg to his friend Jimmy, “Don’t listen to them.”

“Easy for you to say,” Jimmy says quietly as he bounces the basketball down the street while they walk home together. School was always harder for Jimmy than it was for Greg. Greg was better at everything and often times helped Jimmy along with his school work.

“No really” Greg presses on, “Richard’s lying Jimmy…. don’t let him try and scare you. There ain’t no such thing as the bogeyman.”

“But what about Maggie?” Jimmy frowns at his best friend. “What happened to her then? She went missing didn’t she!”

“Yeah,” Greg agrees, “But my Mum was saying the other night that her parents were having troubles and _she_ thinks that her Mum’s run off to Wales with her.”

“So she’s not been kidnapped?” Jimmy asks with hope in his eyes, “You think she’s alright?”

“Yeah,” Greg waves it off. “She’s probably fine.”

“Alright,” Jimmy sighs in relief, “Well I’ll see you later.”

The two boys part and go their separate ways as Jimmy turns and strides up the long cement pathway to his house while Greg continues on down the street.

He would not see his friend again for a very long time.

               Later that evening Greg curls up in bed, his Mum tucks him in and shuts off the lights “Goodnight love,” she says with a smile and shuts the door behind her. She is exhausted from work and dreams of sitting in front of the TV and watching her favorite show for a good couple of hours before she goes to bed.

“Greg asleep?” Her husband Tom asks as he joins her on the couch.

“Yeah,” she smiles and gives him a kiss. “I’m so glad its Friday.”

“Yeah me too,” he smiles back and reclines back against the couch as the show starts.

Meanwhile Greg struggles to sleep. His mind turns the story of Maggie’s disappearance over and over in his head until he’s certain he hears scratching noises under his bed. He tries to ignore it but to no avail and finally he musters enough courage to hang over the side of the bed and look under it. He sees darkness and dust bunnies but no monsters. He sighs in relief and sits up, pulling the blankets up over himself before burrowing down into the warmth of his bed.

               He wouldn’t give into the fear that Jimmy felt even though he knew he felt it himself. He told Jimmy all that only because he didn’t want his friend to worry. Jimmy was prone to panic and fear a lot easier than Greg was. He wanted to protect his friend and therefore he _might_ have exaggerated on what his Mum had actually said about Maggie.

_Scratch Scratch_

Greg starts a little at the sound and takes a deep breath to calm himself. He was nearly ready to cry out for his parents when he heard scuffling on the floor. He dared not put so much as a toe on the carpeted floors beneath his bed out of fear something might grab him, so instead he grabbed his flashlight from off his nightstand and shone it down around the bed. He saw nothing but his superman rug, a few toys and some clothes scattered across the floor.  He swallows thickly and nods to himself as he tries to settle the uneasy feeling in his stomach. As the light of his flashlight crosses over the desk in the far corner of his room he sees a flash of movement and nearly lets out a shriek of fear.

It was his cat.

“Snuffles,” he groans aloud in a mixture of embarrassment and relief. “You scared me you stupid cat!”

He watches his cat climb out from under the desk where she’d been hidden and stretch. She was a pretty calico mix, he’d found her a year ago out by the park down the street. After two day’s worth of pleading and begging his parents had consented to letting him keep her. Finally he gets up and while feeling incredibly stupid he opens his bedroom door to let her out. “ _Stupid,_ ” he mumbles to himself, “How stupid.”

               He shuts the door behind her and sighs into the darkness of his room. Switching off the flashlight he climbs back into bed. The room doesn’t smell right he thinks as he lays there wondering what it could be. He tries to turn over by finds that he can’t and his heart begins to race in fear.

Something had a hold of his ankle!

“Help---…” he starts to cry out just as he is pulled from his bed and onto the soft carpeted floor. He cannot scream for some reason, the words stick in his throat. The smell is worse and every breath makes his lungs burn. He is dragged under the bed into the darkness without so much as a scream.

                                                       

* * *

 

 

               “Happy Birthday sweetheart!” Jackie Tyler says cheerfully as she sets a birthday cupcake down in front of her daughter. “I know you don’t have time for a real cake today because of work and all but I wanted to get you _something_.”

“Thanks Mum,” Rose smiles as she blows out the single candle that was lite atop of the lovely chocolate cupcake her Mum had made.

“Thirty-two,” Jackie says with mild disbelief, “My daughter is thirty-two years old today.”

“Morning,” Pete says as he walks into the kitchen and pats Roses shoulder. “Happy Birthday.”

“Thanks Pete,” Rose says with a smile. Pete wasn’t her biological Dad but over time they grew close enough that it began to feel like he _was_ her Dad.

“So what are you going to do for your birthday?” he asks as Jackie sets a plate of eggs in front of him and he sips his tea.

“Nothing,” Rose shakes her head lightly. “I’ve got a lot of work to do.”

“Ah,” Pete nods and reads the newspaper while Jackie feeds Tony breakfast. Rose watches them for a few moments, admiring the way they make things work together like a well-oiled machine. Jackie washes the dishes and he takes up the job of feeding Tony. Jackie would go and start the laundry while Pete vacuumed the living room. They had a system and it worked, and Rose would often miss the system she had built with the Doctor.

               The sounds of the TV echo from the living room and Rose heads out there, finds the Master watching the news. “How are you?” Rose asks as she drops down next to him on the couch. “I think this is the first time I’ve seen you in nearly a day.”

“Well,” he says casually, “Your Mother hasn’t run me out of the living room yet so I’d say that’s a plus. The TARDIS needs a lot more work than I expected, I don’t know when was the last time the Valeyard did a cycle on her but she needs one desperately. The temporal receptor cufflinks are all rotted away and I haven’t the foggiest clue where he keeps the spares…the wardrobe room _still_ isn’t working and I’m in desperate need of a proper suit….all in all I think it’s going to be a _grand_ day,” he finishes dryly with a sigh.

“It’s my birthday,” Rose points out, “I’m spending it working all day down at the Torchwood building and then tonight I’m babysitting Tony while my Mum and Pete go out to this fundraiser thing.”

“Lucky you,” he replies sarcastically, “I still think changing out temporal receptor cufflinks is a lot harder than looking after a baby ape.”

“Stop calling us apes,” Rose scolds lightly, “I’m not an ape.”

“No,” he agrees, “ _You_ aren’t an ape. I’m not sure about the rest of _them_ though.”

“What makes me so different from them?” Rose asks curiously.

“Good question,” he says as he tosses her the remote. “I smell tea.”

“Mum’s still in the kitchen!” Rose calls as he heads out into the hallway towards the kitchen. She listens for a moment and when her Mum doesn’t start shouting she nods to herself and turns her attention to the TV. There’s a news broadcast about missing children being displayed, they flash different missing photos of an assortment of children and contact information if anyone knew anything about them.

“Whole world’s going mad,” her Mum says as she walks into the living room with Tony in her arms. “Ever sense that whale or whatever it was came here soaking up the planet everybody’s just been a bit crazy.”

“That’s makes four missing kids in one week,” Jackie adds when Rose doesn’t say anything, “I wonder what’s happened to them all.”

“They were kidnapped Jackie,” The Master says as if it were obvious, “Try to pay attention would you?”

“Oh get out of here you!” Jackie says peevishly, “I’d rather you just stay in the basement.”

“What with your dainties drying by the window?” He says with a quirked eyebrow. “ _Honestly_.”

“ _Rose_!” Jackie groans aloud with a pleading look in Roses direction because she can’t tolerate him any longer.

“Oi,” Rose says as she turns to look at him. “You’ll be living in the garden shed if you keep at it.”

The Master sulks a little and drops down next to Rose on the couch, extending a cup of hot tea in her direction. She gratefully accepts it with a keen smile in his direction, ignoring the sharp intake of breath from her Mum behind her as she sips at it.

“If I wanted to poison your daughter Jackie I’d have found a _far_ more creative way to do it by now,” The Master comments idly while Rose switches channels. Jackie doesn’t respond but instead takes Tony back into the kitchen. Rose can hear her talking to Pete but can’t really make out what they’re saying.

“If I still had my old apartment I’d loan it to you,” Rose sighs heavily, “You’ve really got to try and be a little nicer to my Mum.”

“I can’t help it if she asks obvious questions,” he says irritably, “If she’d just _think_ before she spoke I wouldn’t have to correct her so often.”

“You’re _rude,_ ” Rose insists, “To everyone!”

“The Doctor was rude,” he mutters, “I don’t see anyone yelling at _him_.”

“He wasn’t rude like you’re rude,” Rose points out, “He respected the human race even if he realized they weren’t as evolved as he was.”

“So you’d rather me pretend your species isn’t the equivalent of tree swinging primates compared to myself?” he asks.

“No,” Rose sighs, “I just want you to stop pointing it out.”

“ _Old habits die hard,_ ” he echoes quietly, a statement Rose has heard him make before.

“Alright you two,” Pete says as he enters the room. “Clear out…Rose just take him…somewhere… _anywhere_ …just give your Mum some time to breathe alright?”

“Right,” Rose nods. “To the TARDIS.”  


“Is that my Armani suit?” Pete suddenly asks as the Master stands to follow Rose out to the garden.

“Yes,” The Master says cheekily, “It’s a bit big on me but I think it looks quite nice,” he tells Pete before stepping out into the morning sunshine.

 

                                   

* * *

 

 

“You could have worn one of his older suits,” Rose says as she unlocks the TARDIS doors.

“Why ever would I do that?” he says with a look of distaste. “They were all old and faded.”

               The inside of the TARDIS is a mess of electrical wires (or what Rose believed was electrical wire) and tools. He’d pulled the console off to repair some of the older parts beneath it, the bits that the Valeyard hadn’t gotten around to doing.  Rose carefully stepped through the clutter and sat down on the pilot’s seat.

“This TARDIS isn’t as young as you claim it is,” he says as she watches him, “he’s been running amuck for a while in it from the looks of this console room. Everything is _old_ and worn.”

“ _She’s gonna shock you_ ,” Rose sings aloud just as he hisses in disdain and yanks his hand away from one of the wires he was reaching for. “Told you—don’t be rude.” She turns her gaze up to the lighting above, to the silver railing that circles the room, to the odd-looking lights on the console and the grating on the floor. Yes, the TARDIS looked older. It was something she hadn’t thought about at first because the last time she was in here she’d and the Doctor who wasn’t were working on getting her going and travelling the universe. Once she was old enough and strong enough for time travel, they’d go exploring.

Apparently, he’d gone and done that without her.

“So what your saying is that there’s probably a ridiculous amount of damage done to this universe already and I haven’t even begun to repair it.” Rose pinches the bridge of her nose, frustrated. She wasn’t the Doctor; she couldn’t keep up with all this chaos as well as he could. Now she had not one Time Lord to keep track of, but two.

“You know,” The Master pauses in his work to look at her, tossing a greasy wrench down onto the grating. “ _Sometimes_ I’m not always trying to blow up the universe…sometimes I’m just _wandering_.” When she continues to stare at him blankly he adds, “You don’t believe me do you?”

“No,” she tells him dryly, “not for second.”

“My point being,” he says after a pause, “is that maybe he hasn’t done _anything_.”

Rose stares at the console as she answers, “he killed twenty people to save me.”

“And?” The Master quirks a brow.

“ _And_ ,” Rose glowers at him, “It’s wrong.”

“Perhaps,” The Master says as he circles the console, prodding at loose wires and broken buttons, “but in his mind, it was the right thing to do. Who were those people to him anyways? They meant nothing to him. Sure, he would have saved them if he could. He saw it was a lost cause and rescued you instead. You know what I think your problem is Rose Tyler? I think you wanted to fit him into a mold he didn’t fit into. Sort of like trying to fit a puzzle piece somewhere it didn’t belong. He isn’t the Doctor you know…he’s not going to think about saving all those people above saving you.” When she doesn’t answer, he switches topics. “I’ll have to repair that chameleon circuit too,” he comments lightly, leaning out the door to slide his fingers over the worn blue wood of the TARDIS’s outer shell. He steps back inside and removes his jacket, tossing it over a railing before he starts on the console again.

“You can’t change that,” Rose frowns at him. “She’s been a blue police public call box for ages.”

“Yes,” the Master agrees, “And that’s no way to blend in anywhere. It needs to be working properly.”

“Pity,” Rose says with a sigh. “I rather liked the way she looked.”

“Stop being nostalgic,” he scowls. “Holding onto the past does nothing for you. Live in the present and keep moving.”

“Wow,” Rose chuckles lightly. “Motivational speaker you are.”

“Well its true,” he tells her, “Take it from someone who’s over a thousand years old. You cannot live in the past…everything dies….everything has it’s time. If you hold onto everything instead of embracing change your future will be nothing but misery and despair.”

“I take it you’ve lost people,” Rose says thoughtfully, “living as long as your people do must take its toll eventually.”

“I have,” he admits after a while, “lost people…and from loss you learn to harden yourself against it. When you live as long as I do you have to learn to let go or the people you lose will haunt you forever.”

“Which is why the Doctor doesn’t do goodbye,” Rose nods. “He can’t even say _see you later_.”

“Yes well,” the Master says, “He’s a bit sappy…he doesn’t know how to just walk away….he gets attached to his little pets and then when they leave he’s heartbroken.”

“He was lonely,” Rose says quietly, “He thought he was the last of his kind.”

“We’ll he’s not,” the Master informs her, “But just because were the only two left doesn’t mean I plan on spending the rest of my life trapped in this TARDIS with him. I refuse to let him just… _keep me_ ….how absurd.”

“You’re not a pet,” Rose scowls at him. “He would have wanted you to travel with him…to put aside your differences and be _friends_.”

“And what do you know about being _friends_ Rose Tyler?” he scoffs. “He and I haven’t been civil since we were children together on Gallifrey but he’s still my friend.”

“You grew up with him?” Rose asks with a surprised look.

“Yes,” he admits like he hadn’t meant to tell her that, “I suppose we did.”

“So you know him really well then?” Rose asks, “You even know his _name_?”

“No,” the Master gives her a sharp look. “Not that…names have power Rose Tyler…and even if I did know his name _which I don’t_ I’d never tell you or anyone else for that matter.”

“Why do insist on calling me _Rose Tyler_?” she asks, “Wouldn’t it be easier just to call me Rose?”

He puts a piece of the console back in place and starts on the next section before responding “On my planet that’s how we address one another.”

“First _and_ last name?” Rose asks curiously, “But from what I understand your names are really long…must take ages to have a conversation.”

“You have no idea,” he chuckles. “If you think that’s bad you should have seen the kind of paperwork we did. Everything had to be precise…everything had to be filed…twenty pages of paperwork just to explain why an electrical panel had to be changed out or why someone wants to visit another planet in a TARDIS.”

“Wow,” Rose says, “You lot were loads of fun then.”

“It wasn’t all bad,” he says after a while, “Some of it was wonderful.”

“Tell me about it,” Rose asks, “About Gallifrey.”

He stiffens at the question and frowns as if he were pondering the question himself before he says, “It doesn’t matter,” he says quietly, “it’s in the past…what did I tell you about being nostalgic Rose Tyler?”

And just like that he was back to being his usual rude self.

Rose sighs and runs a hand through her hair before checking the time on her watch. “I need to get to work.”

“Try not to destroy the planet!” he says cheerfully as if bidding her a good day as she walks past him towards the door. “And tell your Mother to keep the bloody sprinklers off…she’s ruining the paint outside.”

“Splendid,” Rose says sarcastically as she leaves. “And you stay away from my Mum and Tony…I don’t need her calling me while I’m at work telling me to come and pick you up like you’re a spoiled three year old that can’t behave.”

“ _I_ am not the problem in this equation,” he points out, “ _She’s_ being unreasonable.”

“You nearly got me killed _twice_ when you first came here,” Rose argues, “My Mum doesn’t take kindly to that.”

“ _Hardly,_ ” he scoffs. “You were nowhere near your office when I sent you that fruit basket and the second time I can _hardly_ be blamed for. It isn’t my fault you’ve got terrible driving skills.”

“It was an _exploding_ fruit basket,” Rose counters, “And I wouldn’t have been driving like a mad woman if you hadn’t been trying to steal the TARDIS from me.”

“Technically she’s _my_ TARDIS now,” he says, “The Valeyard’s abandoned her and therefore she requires a pilot…and here I am,” he says as he motions towards himself. “I wasn’t stealing anything from you that didn’t already belong to me to begin with.”

“If you’re determined to keep her,” Rose says as she pauses in the doorway and then climbs the grating pathway back towards him. “Then you’ll treat her with a little respect,” she then snatches the wrench that he had been idly tapping against the console as he spoke to her from his grasp.

“ _Excuse me,_ ” he says as she darts away with it, tossing it onto the pilot’s seat.

“You were annoying her,” Rose points out, “Feel the way she’s humming…she doesn’t like you banging against her console like that.”

“You certainly seem to know a few things about this TARDIS,” he says thoughtfully, “I take it you spent some time with him in it.”

“Yes,” Rose nods. “And another thing…don’t lean against the console like that…she’s not a _chair_.”

“ _Yes Ma’am,_ ” he says teasingly as she turns to leave. He watches her shut the door behind her as she goes and turns to look up at the rotor with a weary sigh “She’s a bit bossy isn’t she?”

                                                         

* * *

 

 

               “So what do we have here?” Rose says as she leans over Tosh’s shoulder to examine the screen before them. Tosh finally had the scanners upgraded shortly after the Master made a mockery of all her hard work by showing off his technical skills and telling her how she could better her own. Tosh found herself almost in competition with the man, and it both overjoyed and irritated her to finally meet someone who understood what she was talking about when she spoke of things like quantum nuclear psychics.

“Well if I have this scanner adjusted right,” Tosh begins, “I _think_ we’ve got a heavy underground movement somewhere in the north-west part of London.”

“ _Weevils,_ ” Owen grimaces and rubs his face. “I _hate_ weevils.”

“It’s all part of the job,” Rose says cheerfully as she tosses him the keys to the Torchwood SUV. “Go get them.”

“Alright,” Owen sighs. “I’ll round up a few and head out…oh by the way we’ve got someone new here asking for a job…I told him to wait in the lobby.”

“Who?” Rose says as she opens up the door to her new office and glances back at him.

“A…” Owen pauses to dig out a piece of paper from his pocket before continuing, squinting at the quickly scribbled name he wrote down. “Ianto Jones.”

“Alright I’ll send for him in a bit…we could use a little help with the filing around here,” Rose nods as she switches on the lights and starts up her computer. “Tosh I’m going to need that report you made on the whale by the way.”

“Yes Yes…” Tosh nods. “I’m almost done.”

Rose nods and turns to the computer screen, checking her email and sorting through various documents before she glances at the clock. “If he really wants the job he’ll still be down there.”

“He would,” Tosh agrees, “He’s only been waiting two hours.”

“Only?” Rose laughs a little and gets to her feet, checking herself in the mirror to make sure she looks presentable before going down to the main floor to retrieve Ianto Jones.

 

                                           

* * *

 

 

 

“Good morning,” Rose says as she approaches him, watches him stand and straighten his pressed suit before extending a hand in her direction.

“Ianto Jones,” he says with a polite nod. “And you are?”

“Rose Tyler,” Rose says politely, “I’m the director of the unclassified department here at the Torchwood Institute.”

“Pleasure,” he says as he follows her to the elevators. “I understand your needing secretary assistance?”

“Yes,” Rose says, “Among other things.”

“And those would be?” He inquires as she presses a button on the elevator panel to take them up to level four.

“Can you use a gun?” Rose asks as the elevator gives a little tug and starts moving.

“Yes,” he nods. “Well…my Granddad once owned a pistol he taught me to use when I was twelve….if that’s counts?”

 Rose laughs, “Yeah that will do…we can teach you to use a gun if we need to…you understand what we do here don’t you?”

“Yes,” he nods. “I was sent in your direction via an email from a friend of mine. You helped save her boyfriend once from a giant spider.”

“Yeah,” Rose nods with a half-smile. “He’s not her boyfriend anymore believe me.”

“I should think not” Ianto agrees as they reach level floor. The doors ding cheerfully and slide open, Rose stepping out into the corridor and heading towards her office.

“All Torchwood employees are required to have at least a low level of psychic training. They will be required to sign a contract holding them to secrecy per government order. We cannot risk any of the things experienced working for Torchwood get out into the general public…some people just aren’t ready to know the truth about it all.”

“Agreed,” Ianto nods his eyes scanning the complex as they pass cubicles.  A lovely dark haired woman smiles at him and a pale, lean looking gentleman from across the room leans to one side and peers at him from around a cubicle wall.

“That’s Tosh and Owen,” Rose provides easily as they step into her new office. “The only two people brave enough to work on level four with me.”

“I’ll do it,” Ianto says, “providing you tell me what it is you do up here and what you’ll need me to do.”

“I need a secretary mate,” Rose explains, “however sometimes bad things happen and I’ll need all hands on deck. That means you’ll need to be able to use a gun…know how to fight….and it also means you’ll have to do a lot of running.”

“So I take it wearing a suit to work might not be the best idea?” Ianto asks lightly.

“Oh no,” Rose shakes her head, “Look at me…I’m wearing a pants suit…I rather enjoy it. However I suggest you don’t wear anything _expensive_ …I learned that the hard way once with a pair of Jimmy Choos…..”Rose trails off with a thoughtful frown on her lips.

“Ah,” Ianto nods. “Dully noted.”

“So do you want the job?” Rose asks casually as she tries to hide the desperate hope in her eyes. Nobody wanted this job, nobody wanted to work on four at all. Rose begged and pleaded with Massie and countless others already. Everyone wanted to work behind a desk and not have to deal with the dangerous things the people on four dealt with.

“I wouldn’t have waited two hours if I didn’t,” Ianto says with a tilt of his head. “When do I start?”

Rose beams at him and stands. “ _Right now_ ….welcome to Torchwood Ianto Jones.”

“Excellent,” he says as he shakes her hand.

“Let’s get started,” Rose tells him and then turns to guide him out onto the department floor for a tour of the complex.

 

                                                                 

* * *

 

 

Later that afternoon Owen returns with a few cuffed and highly irritated weevils. He locks them away in one of the containment cells on level two and then heads for Roses office. She is sitting at her desk finishing up a report when he drops a pair of slim covered gloves on her desk.

“The weevils are moving,” he says pointedly.

“Yes I know,” Rose nods. “I sent you out there to fix that.”

“No,” Owen sighs. “I mean they’re _moving_ …they’re running away from something.”

“Such as?” Rose says as she eyes the gloves on her desk, “and can you _please_ get those off my brand new desk?”

“ _Hey,_ ” Owen says as he snatches the gloves up, “it isn’t my fault your snobby alien boyfriend blew up your office...forgive me if a little goo is ruining the polish of your lovely new desk… _Listen to me,_ ” he says pointedly, “it was like they were forced to move…to leave….look at this stuff!” He waves the gloves in her face, “I don’t know what it is but it smells absolutely _foul_ and it didn’t come from the weevils so _where_ did it come from?”

“First of all,” Rose begins, “He’s not my boyfriend; secondly I have no idea what that stuff is but I’m sure he will.”

“You’re not gonna drag him into this again are you?” Owen frowns a little. “I don’t trust him.”

“Nobody does apparently,” Rose sighs. “Maybe I should make a note of that somewhere.”

“I found it all over the walls and the floor down there,” Owen tells her, “It smelt awful…I could scarcely breathe at all.”

“So you think something else has taken up residence in the sewers?” Rose says as she pulls on a pair of plastic gloves and takes a sample of the green slime, sealing it away carefully in a tiny glass vial.

“Yes,” Owen presses on, “I think something has.”

 

                                                       

* * *

 

 

 

               The Tardis is littered with oddly colored pipes crusted with shimmery green coral; wires are hanging loosely from overhead while the Master himself is wearing a welder’s face shield and wielding what looked like a welding torch. Rose steps around the clutter and watches him work for a moment before he stops and lifts the face shield to look at her, “Yes, what is it?”

“Oh nothing….what the hell happened in here?” Rose says as she glances around.

“Remodeling,” The Master waves her off dismissively. “I need to focus, go find something to entertain yourself with.”

“Oh alright,” Rose says as she runs a hand through her hair. “Do you happen to know where the med-bay is?”

“Not a clue,” he responds and then drops the face mask back down and begins working again.

 

                                                                     

* * *

 

 

               Rose decides to search for it herself, spends at least an hour wandering before she finally finds it. It looks much the same with white painted walls and sterile looking machinery. She flips on the lights and watches them flicker to life. Striding across the room she tosses her long black wool coat over a nearby chair.

                              She walks towards the strange looking machine the Doctor always used to identify funny looking goo when he didn’t know what it was. She takes a slide out and places a sample of the goo on it, carefully placing the sample inside the machine. Then she clicks the sliding glass door around the little square looking compartment where the machine sets about processing the sample. She can’t exactly remember how the Doctor got the thing running, so she opts to flip the switches she does remember him using. She counts them in her head as she strains for the memory of it:

_Red panel blue button….yellow panel white button….four flip switch buttons on top….and….._

Nothing.

Rose frowns and stares at the machine irritably, looking both perplexed and tired. “Oh _come on,_ ” Rose whines aloud, “Just work!”

“What are you doing?” the Master drawls as he enters the room, eyeing the machinery she was currently trying to operate.

“I need to figure out what this goo is and this is the machine the Doctor always used to figure that out,” Rose tells him, “I don’t know why it’s not working.”

“Well,” the Master says as he steps up behind her and reaches past her, pressing a red button on the top left corner of the operation panel. “For starters it would help to turn it _on_.”

Rose blushes sheepishly and watches the machine light up, “I knew that.”

“Sure you did,” the Master smirks at her as she repeats the same process as before, but now the machine whirls to life and begins to analyze the sample. They watch the machine process it before printing a read out. Rose snatches the read out from the machine before the Master can grab it himself and steps away as she begins to look it over.

“What’s wrong?” The Master says with a knowing grin. “Having trouble reading it?”

“No,” Rose scowls at him even though she hadn’t a clue what it all meant. It was nothing but Gallifreyan swirls and circles and after a moment she hands it over with a sigh. “Alright…the TARDIS translator isn’t translating…. what’s it say?”

“It says…” he begins dramatically before meeting her gaze. “You’re meddling in things you ought not to be again.”

“ _Harry,_ ” Rose says, “What’s it say? _Really_?”

He quirks an eyebrow before answering, “It’s reading high trace elements of poisonous toxins in this…whatever it is. Several of which are deadly to humans….where _have_ you been Rose Tyler?”

“Owen went down to the sewers this morning to deal with some weevils that had wandered just a little too close to the center of London. They know better than to stray so close…we’ve warned them before that they need to keep to the perimeter we set for them. Anyhow when he went down there he found that,” Rose says as she motions towards the slime in the machine, “and said it smelt awful down there…and the weevils were moving…like they were forced to leave.”

“I see,” he tells her as he examines the results. “Some of the elements in this material aren’t from this planet…and some that would kill a human in five minutes flat…lucky your friend Owen didn’t doddle down there too long or he would have been dead,” he tells her and then after a pause, “It looks terribly familiar,” he frowns at the readings. “Though I can’t place it.”

“So I’ll need a breather if I’m going down there to investigate,” Rose nods.

“I wouldn’t go down there at all if I were you,” he comments lightly, “though you and the Doctor are very alike…neither of you could resist a good mystery.”

“Nope,” Rose says cheerfully as she grabs her wool coat and shrugs it on. “See you later then.”

“Can you stop by the hardware store and pick me up a few things while you’re out?” He asks as he follows her back out to the main console room.

“I might,” Rose says casually, “what’s in it for me?”

“Well let’s see,” he says as he taps his chin while pretending to think. “How about I let you sleep in tomorrow morning?”

“I will lock you out of the house and make you sleep on the patio if you set that alarm off again,” Rose says pointedly.

“Oh it wasn’t that terrible,” he tells her, “you waste _far_ too much time on sleep.”

“Just _stop_ doing it,” Rose says irritably.

“Oh alright,” he sighs. “How about I just…. _owe_ you one?” he says with a dramatic flourish of his arms.

“Fair enough,” Rose grins at him.

“Oh just _go,_ ” he sighs when she lingers a little too long to smirk at him. “Here don’t forget the list.”

Rose grins and takes the proffered list before she leaves, shutting the TARDIS doors behind her quietly as she goes. She’ll hold onto that favor until she really needs it she imagines. Looking over the list she realizes he needs practically a zillion things. Some of which she had no idea what they were, but she figures one of the employees will know what they are.

 

                                                         

* * *

 

 

The sewers were dark and smelt like rot and mold when Rose climbed down the slick ladder. She’d changed into a black standard Torchwood jumpsuit, black boots buckled to mid-calves and her blond hair pulled back into a pony tail. Owen follows behind her shortly after, complaining about overtime and the fact that he was currently missing the game because she wants to go frolicking through the sewers at seven o’clock at night.

“It isn’t like it would be any different during the day,” Rose points out, “It’s going to be dark down here either way.”

“I still think we should wait until tomorrow,” he says, “I had a date tonight.”

“We’ll you can catch up with her later…it won’t take long I just want to check it out and then your free to go,” Rose says as she pulls the breathers from her back pack. “Breathers on.”

               Together the two of them shine flashlights down the pitch black tunnels of the sewer, Owen leading her to where he found the slime. The circular brick tunnels are caked with the stuff, strange looking vines like you’d find in a jungle were stuck to the walls like a plant growing along a wall. Rose followed them down the tunnel, the stench steadily getting worse and the clean oxygen slowly dwindling. Eventually the stench turns to a thick green fog, and Owen stops her by grabbing her shoulder lightly, “I think I saw something.”

“Which way?” Rose says softly and follows the way he points towards a bricked off room with a narrow door.

“Probably an underground gas panel,” Owen says softly, “They might be holding up in there…whatever _they_ are.”

“I’ll go first,” she says quietly as she pulls out her gun, “You cover me.”

Owen nods and follows behind her, Rose holding the gun out in front of her with her flashlight in her other hand, clearing each tunnel and corridor slowly as she scans the area. When they reach the little room at the end of the tunnel she eases up to the door slowly, scanning the darkness within. It’s nothing but green fog and blackness, and she could feel fear creeping up her spine like a cold breeze. Something flashes across the line of light her flashlight makes across the room and she resists the urge to jump backwards. Owen grunts behind her and she knows she’s stepped on his foot and glances back at him apologetically.

“Rose!” he all but shouts and she turns back to see something coming right at her, a blur of green with sharp teeth. It makes no sound at all but she can tell it would have been screaming had it been able too. It doesn’t take her long to realize what she’s looking at, the reality of it is shocking. Before she can properly register what she’s seeing Owen is firing and the thing collapses to the ground in a heap.

“Why did you do that!?” Rose shouts at him angrily.

“It was going to _kill_ you!” he shouts back “the bloody thing jumped out of the dark and _ran_ at us Rose…what did you expect me to do!?”

“You don’t know that!” Rose shouts back and turns to look at the creature crumbled on the ground a few feet away from them “What the hell _is_ it?”

“I don’t know,” Owen says as he holsters his gun and kicks it lightly near what he believed was its feet while Rose kept her gun trained on it, “It might have been able to tell us something,” Rose sighs.

“Or it was going to eat us,” Owen argues, “Or it was going to render us to goo and paint the walls with our entrails.”

Rose stares at him for a moment. “You’ve got an awfully wild imagination.”

“Comes from working for you for so long,” Owen shrugs.

“Let’s get this thing back to the institute,” Rose tells him.

“Wait,” Owen murmurs from behind her, “I don’t think were alone.”

“How many?” Rose whispers back softly.

“I don’t know,” he says quietly, “but I can hear shuffling in the far corner.”

“Owen I don’t see---…” Rose began but was cut off as something knocked her to the ground with such force she was seeing black spots dancing across her vision. She hears Owen yell and the sound of a struggle as she scrambles to her feet, blood dribbling down from the corner of her brow.

“Owen,” Rose says aloud, “Owen where are you?”

No answer.

“Owen!” Rose shouts as she gives up all pretenses of being quiet. “Where the hell are you!?”

She has to fumble in the dark for a few minutes to find her flashlight which was knocked from her hand and thrown against the far wall. She listens intently for movement but hears nothing and deems it safe to relax just a little. She searches for Owen, finds him slumped against a wall unconscious. She checks to make sure he isn’t seriously injured before phoning Tosh and telling her what happened. She’s there twenty minutes later with a Torchwood SUV and a black body bag.  She helps Rose zip up the body of the alien and get Owen into the SUV. 

“He’s just got a concussion,” Tosh says as she examines him. “We need to get him to medical immediately though just in case,” she says as she and Rose climb into the SUV and head back to the institute.

                                                                       

* * *

 

               It’s a parade of reports and medical exams before Rose can go home for the night. Tosh takes the body to the lab to look it over while Rose finishes up the paperwork. Owen is kept overnight down on the medical floor just to be safe and Rose brings him dinner as an apology.

“You,” he says as he points at her when she walks in. “Are a bloody menace sometimes.”

“I’m sorry,” Rose says apologetically as she sets down a bag of take-out next to his bed. “You think they’ll let you eat this?”

“They can’t bloody stop me,” he tells her pointedly as he takes the bag and digs in. “I told you we should have just waited.”

“Tosh has the body down in the morgue…she’s going to perform an exam on it in the morning,” Rose tells him as he relishes in the taste of deep fried food.

“What the hell was that thing?” Owen frowns at her. “It had three bloody heads.”

“I have no idea,” Rose says with raised eyebrows. “I’ve never seen anything like it before.”

“Not even when you were travelling with the Doctor?” He asks curiously.

“Nope,” Rose shakes her head. “Nothing like it.”

“So it’s something _new,_ ” Owen’s eyes alight with curiosity, “something we’ve never seen before.”

“We’ve seen plenty of new things,” Rose points out, “They just never had three heads.”

“It looked like a plant,” he says thoughtfully, “or it was growing a plant down there.”

“I don’t know,” Rose sighs. “I just don’t want to go back down there without more people this time.”

“I don’t want to go back down there _at all,_ ” Owen says pointedly, “I’ll just stay at the institute with Ianto thank you very much.”

“If you like,” Rose agrees, “you can help him monitor the tunnels this time. I’m not going down there unless we’ve got eyes on the whole sewer system.”

“Gladly,” he nods.

                                                                       

* * *

 

               Rose leaves him to eat his dinner and heads home. When she arrives Pete is still awake and watching TV. She walks by quietly but he still hears her and stops her before she can sneak by, “Rose.”

“Yeah?” she asks tentatively.

“I heard what happened,” he says quietly, “you alright?”

“Yeah,” she nods. “I’m fine…we’ve got the body in the morgue and Tosh is doing an exam tomorrow morning.”

“Good,” he nods. “As the director of the whole institute you know it’s my job to keep you safe…if things like this happen again you need to call me _first_.”

“I’m sorry,” she sighs. “I just didn’t want to worry you or Mum.”

“Rose this goes beyond just me and your Mum,” he says pointedly, “this is Torchwood business and I’m your boss. You need to keep me informed.”

“Alright,” Rose concedes, “I’m sorry.”

Pete nods, satisfied. “Get some sleep…you look exhausted.”

“I am,” Rose agrees and turns to head upstairs.

She showers and changes into her pajamas before switching off the lights to her bedroom and climbing into bed. She can still see the lights from the TARDIS flickering through her bedroom window and wonders what he could possibly be doing in there that late. It was nearly midnight already, she thinks as she rolls over to face her back against the window and close her eyes. She is exhausted but sleep doesn’t come to her. Silently she gets out of bed and puts on her slippers with her bathrobe over her pajamas and heads outside to the TARDIS.

                                                         

* * *

 

               He is crouched low beneath the console connecting wires when she comes in and drops down on the pilot seat to watch him. She doesn’t say anything and he doesn’t speak to her. He looks busy and she doesn’t want to bother him so instead she sprawls out on the pilot seat and curls up to watch him, finds it weirdly soothing to listen to him tinker away on the TARDIS….it felt _familiar_.

               She doesn’t mean to nod off on the pilot’s seat but she does and when he wakes her up he’s got a mild look of distaste on his face, “You were drooling in your sleep and you’re laying on the wrench that I need.”

“Oh,” Rose says groggily and pulls the wrench out from under her right leg to hand to him. “Sorry I didn’t mean to nod off.”

“Where did you get off to anyways?” he asks as he turns to reattach cufflinks to the main rotor, “and did you get what I needed?”

“Ran into some trouble earlier,” Rose tells him, “I _will_ go to the store for you in the morning though.”

“I noticed the bandage,” he says as he motions to her brow. “Got a good knock on the head did you?”

“I don’t even know what _it_ was,” Rose admits, “a three headed plant or something.”

“Three heads,” he ponders aloud, “Not many species in the universe with three heads that I know of….a couple thousand at most.”

“Oh well that narrows it down,” Rose says a little dryly.

He stops to peer thoughtfully at her for a moment, his eyes squinting in thought as he watches her before uttering a determined, “Absolutely not.”

“What?” Rose asks bewildered.

“ _No_ …you are not dragging me into this,” he tells her, “I have too much to do here.”

“I’m not asking you to help me,” Rose says, “but I _could_ call in that favor you owe me.”

“You can’t technically call in a favor you haven’t earned yet,” he argues, “and you should probably save that favor for when you really need it.”

“True,” Rose agrees and then after a pause, “what are you up to under there?”

“I’m aligning the particle accelerator with the temporal receptors,” he says and waits to see if she gets it. When she continues to stare at him he adds, “I’m connecting the steering wheel to the engine,” and then sighs.

“Ah,” Rose nods. “You know…I could help you…if you’d just teach me.”

“I don’t have time to teach you quantum psychics let alone show you how to attach temporal receptor cufflinks. I need to finish the cycle on her…” he pauses for a moment thoughtfully, “oh alright…I suppose I could show you how to switch out the cufflinks….even an _ape_ could do that.”

“Yay!” Rose grins at him. “Finally something to _do_!”

He rolls his eyes and climbs out from under the console to look at her. “Go to the storage room and bring me the red, blue, and green cufflinks.”

“Right,” Rose says as she heads for the storage room.

“Change into something you won’t mind getting dirty!” he calls after her so she also makes a stop at her old bedroom to dig out some old clothes to wear. Most of it wasn’t anywhere near her taste in clothing anymore. She grimaces at the assortment of pink clothing. When she emerges from the depths of the TARDIS carrying cufflinks and wearing the only darker clothing she could find he stares at her for a minute before chuckling. “What the _hell_ are you wearing?”

“Shut it,” Rose tells him, “I was twenty-two and I had an abundant taste for pink…. this was the only non-pink or purple clothing I had.”

“Yes,” he nods. “I recall passing your old room when I was looking for the kitchen; it _is_ a bit…. _pink_ in there.”

“It was a _phase,_ ” she grounds out irritably as she follows him down below the walkway and beneath the grating.

“Remarkable that the Doctor wasn’t blinded by such vibrant colors,” he teases lightly.

“OK,” Rose gives him a withering look before motioning to the cufflinks currently connected to the power panel, “How do I switch them out?”

“Shut down the power like so,” he says as he flips a lever into the down position. “Wear protective goggles…she’s an old bird and likely to spark,” he hands her a pair of goggles to put on. “the cufflinks are color coded so it’s simple…blue…green…red…and do not connect them out of order or your likely to blow up the TARDIS,” he tells her pointedly, “Blue first…then green…then red…just like that. Connect the top first and then the bottom _in that order_.”

He hovers over her like someone teaching a child to ride a bicycle for the first time; carefully leaving the training wheels on till their sure the child can keep balance. The TARDIS seems perfectly pleased that she’s helping, hums happily as she changes out the cufflinks.  The Master is silent as he observes and seems relatively impressed that she got it right the first time around. “See,” Rose says proudly, “I’m a quick study.”

He quirks an eyebrow and ponders a moment before responding, “Let’s try something a little harder.”

               He teaches her how to switch out fuses and clean the fusion filter. She changes out light bulbs and replaces wires and by the time she’s done he’s nodding in approval. “A few errors but I caught them before you could blow us both up luckily.”

Her phone rings and she answers it while the Master resumes his work on the TARDIS, “Yeah?”

“Hey,” Tosh’s voice crackles on the other end, “Where are you? I thought we were going to examine the body this morning?”

“What time is it?” Rose blinks.

“It’s nearly ten o’clock,” Tosh answers, “We were supposed to meet at nine-thirty I thought?”

“Crap,” Rose says, “I’m on my way!”

“Leaving so soon?” The Master calls as she rushes for the door.

“I’m late for work,” she tells him, “I’ll be back later!”

“We’ll since you just completed the cycle for me I can probably handle the rest of this on my own,” he tells her nonchalantly as sparks fly from the rotor and the TARDIS groans in irritation.

“Looks like she’s getting tired of you prodding at her,” Rose tells him, “Maybe you should let her rest a bit.”

“Probably,” he looks displeased at the thought and climbs out from under the rotor. “I guess I’ll go see if I can get the stove working in the kitchen.”

“Have fun with that,” Rose tells him as she heads out the door, “you two play nice!” she adds as an afterthought and hurry’s back into the house to get changed for work.

                                                                         

* * *

 

 

 

               Tosh is waiting for her when she walks into the morgue. The body of the alien is laid out on the exam table prepped and ready for examination. Tosh had already begun when she arrived, and Rose quickly pulled on a plastic apron with gloves and a mask before she steps up to the table.

“What happened to you?” Tosh says as she begins the examination.

“Sorry,” Rose says, “I was helping Harry with something.”

“Harry?” she says with a quirked eyebrow.

“The…my….the bloke who blew up my office,” Rose says as she helps Tosh take a sample of what they _hoped_ was brain tissue.

“Oh,” Tosh nods. “Why Harry?”

“I dunno,” Rose answers, “he just said I could call him that.”

“So that’s his real name then?” Tosh presses on tentatively.

“No,” Rose says as Tosh places the sample under the microscope and examines it, “I don’t know what his real name is but I refuse to call him _Master_ so Harry it is.”

“It does sounds a bit dirty doesn’t it?” Tosh laughs a little.

“Yeah,” Rose laughs too as they wait for the results of the sample, Tosh flipping through the slides before frowning thoughtfully. “What is it?”

“There’s a chemical in this brain tissue that….I don’t understand why it’s here,” she tells Rose before turning to look at the body. “Lets finish the examination and we’ll go over the results once I’m sure about what I’ve found alright?”

               They continue with the examination and by the time their done it’s nearly lunch time. They agree to review the results over lunch and head down to the Rose’s favorite café by the wharf. They order food and sit outside under wide beige umbrellas on black metal chairs.

“Alright,” Tosh says as they dig into their lunch, “two things…first of which is the least baffling but explains the most as to why neither of us have ever see anything like it.”

“Oh?” Rose asks as she takes a bite of baked chicken.

“The DNA structure of this thing was off the charts,” she tell her, “It had a combination of two separate DNA structures fused together.”

“Kind of like the whale,” Rose says, “Harry said that the whale was genetically engineered by the Daleks.”

“Well,” Tosh says, “I think this…whatever it was, was genetically engineered as well.”

“It had no vocal cords,” Rose points out, “was that intentional or genetic?”

“Probably genetic,” Tosh says, “I saw no damage to the tissue around the throat.”

“So what’s the second thing?” Rose asks while Tosh stirs her tea and stares out at the ocean for a moment before looking at Rose. When she doesn’t say anything Rose leans in closer and frowns at her, “What is it?”

“There was a chemical in the brain tissue only found in one place on Earth,” she tells Rose quietly, “It’s a chemical produced only in the brains of children, specifically under the age of ten.”

Rose processes this for a moment, staring at her blankly before answering, “You’re certain?”

“Positive,” Tosh nods with a sigh as she rubs her face. “Is this thing attacking children?”

The worried look on Tosh’s face makes her pause for a moment and ponder it before answering, “If it is we will stop it Tosh,” Rose says seriously.

“But _what_ is it?” Tosh presses on, “Why would it be after _children_?”

“I dunno,” Rose admits, “but I know somebody who might.”


	4. Bogeyman Part Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own any of it or make any money from any of it, all of it belongs to those who created Doctor Who.

He is in the kitchen when she comes home, and she smells something absolutely delightful coming from the stove. When he said fix the stove she had no idea he meant the one in the house. She walks into the kitchen and drops her coat and purse on a kitchen chair before walking up beside him at the stove to see what he’s doing.

“What are you up to?” she inquires as she eyes the pot of stew in front of him.

“What does it look like I’m doing Rose Tyler?” he says as he scoops a bit of soup onto a spoon and pops it into her mouth before she can respond. Rose begins to protest by the delicious taste of spice and pasta mixed with meatballs and spinach makes her pause. She blinks up at him as she swallows, “That’s bloody fantastic…what is that?”

“It’s an Italian recipe I rather enjoy,” he tells her, “I decided to make dinner because if I had to go another day with your mothers cooking I might starve to death,” he admits dramatically as Jackie walks into the kitchen and scowls at his back.

“Mum really,” Rose says, “you _have_ to try this.”

Jackie won’t relent at first but finally she grabs a spoon and nibbles at it for a moment before staring up at the Master at an entirely different light, “You _can_ cook.”

“Over ten million taste buds,” he tells her, “it definitely helps.”

“Blimey you can cook every night as far as I’m concerned,” Jackie says and Rose is silently amazed by how fast her Mother has changed opinions about him.

“Thought he wasn’t allowed in the kitchen anymore?” Rose smirks at her.

“Yes well,” Jackie says after a pause, “he can earn his keep by cooking.”

“I’m not your _maid_ Jackie Tyler,” The Master points out, “but I _will_ cook if it means I’ll have a decent bloody meal occasionally.”

“ _Rude,_ ” Rose glares up at him, elbowing him sharply in the ribs.

“Although I’m certain if I had human taste buds I would find your cooking quite satisfying,” he adds quietly after Rose gives him a withering look.

“Well,” Jackie says, “I suppose that’s the closest I’ll ever see of an apology from you…so alright…I suppose,” she says begrudgingly and turns to go back out into the living room.

“If you want my Mother to like you,” Rose tells him as she steals another bite of soup before he can swat her hand away, “you’ll have to be a little nicer to her.”

“I don’t really care if she likes me or not,” he mutters irritably, “I just don’t think I could go another day eating _meatloaf_.”

Rose giggles because she can’t help it, he looks absolutely hilarious with the distasteful look on his face and the way he talks of her mother’s meatloaf. When she was over her fit of giggles she helps him serve dinner and watches her family eat happily.

“Blimey,” he comments lightly to Rose, “I could have poisoned you all and you’d not be any the wiser until it was too late.”

That was the wrong thing to say of course and Rose glares at him again while her Mum and Pete stop eating to stare at the food they were so happily enjoying. Rose shakes her head and rolls her eyes before adding, “He’s _joking_.”

“I was,” the Master agrees, “I just thought…never mind.”

Rose watches him fall silent and finishes her soup before following him out to the living room to watch TV. “You’re being awfully friendly tonight Rose Tyler,” he points out, “I certainly hope you’re not trying to butter me up so I’ll help you.”

“I just need you to come look at the body of the alien we brought back to the institute,” Rose blurts out quickly, “Just come look at it and tell me what it is….it’s got chemicals in its brain tissue that are only found in the brains of children under ten years of age, We don’t know what to make of it.”

“I recall telling you already that I want nothing to do with your little adventures,” he says, “unlike the Doctor I’m not interested in saving the universe…I’m a Time Lord and I will do as we are meant to. We observe we do not interfere.”

“You won’t have to interfere,” Rose tells him, “You could just….observe the body for me and idly comment on what it might or might not be,” she says with hopeful eyes.

“I’m busy,” he says as he flips through the channels until he finds the history channel, “and besides…I’ve got enough to do with the TARDIS as it is.”

“I’ll _owe_ you one then,” Rose begs.

He doesn’t say anything for a while and Rose starts to give up, her eyes on the TV screen. Then he says thoughtfully, “You would owe me something Rose Tyler, if I go down there and spend some of my precious time helping you solve your little mystery.”

“Fine,” Rose says, “Just as long as it’s not anything like…you know…world domination or something.”

“Please,” he scoffs, “as if I would need _your_ help taking over the world.”

“So you’ll do it?” Rose presses on hopefully, “ _Please_?”

“Yes _alright,_ ” he sighs. “Fine.”

“Thank you!” Rose says as she turns to watch the TV with a pleased look on her face.

“Just this once,” he adds, “I’m busy you know.”

“I know,” Rose smiles at him and then reclines back into the sofa to watch TV.

 

                                                         

* * *

 

               They head down to the Torchwood institute the following morning. Rose walks into the department building with a cheery bounce in her step while the Master follows behind her looking perfectly annoyed by her abundant joy. They walk down to the morgue and Tosh pulls the body out of the freezer.

The Master examines it for a moment before looking over the results Tosh provides him with. He then turns to look at both Rose and Tosh who have matching looks of expectancy on their faces. “I haven’t a clue what this is…but your theory of genetic manipulation is correct,” he tells Tosh, “you said it had chemicals in the brain tissue only found in children?”

“Yes,” Rose nods. “So do you have any ideas?”

“Yes,” he says tentatively, “there is a species of alien known as the Yamencei, they feed off this chemical which can actually be found in many species across the universe.”

“So it’s …Yamencei?” Rose says as she steps up to the table with him.

“No,” he says, “I’m not finished yet. The Yamencei don’t have _legs_ ….and this...whatever it is…is not entirely Yamencei. The Yamencei have three heads and a trunk like body. They root themselves to the ground and have long green tentacles that are used for both defense and activity.  They cannot breathe oxygen it’s poisonous to them, they require highly toxic levels of atmosphere to survive.”

“So somebody genetically engineered this thing,” Tosh surmises, “but _why_?”

“Who knows,” The Master answers, “If that’s quite all I need to be going.”

“Thanks,” Rose tells him as he turns to leave.

“You still need to go to the store for me Rose Tyler,” he reminds her pointedly, “You can’t call in a favor from me without first being owed one.”

“Cheery isn’t he?” Tosh says as she watches him leave.

“All the time,” Rose sighs as she helps Tosh close up the body bag and put the body back into the freezer.

                                                         

* * *

 

               She stops by the hardware store after work and with the help of an employee she finds everything the Master wrote down on the list. When she gets home she drops off the bags of items he requested off in the TARDIS much to his pleasure and then goes back in the house to shower and change clothes. She agreed to meet Tosh for drinks down at the pub and was looking forward to a little time to relax. She walks out to the TARDIS before she leaves and sticks her head inside to look at the Master who is currently examining an odd looking gold device in his hands.

“What’s that?” she says as he glances up at her.

“It’s a laser screwdriver,” he tells her, “Need a bit of tech.”

“You made that?” Rose says as she watches him.

“Yes,” he tells her without looking at her, prodding at the device in his hands.

“Oh,” Rose nods. “I see.”

“Yeah,” he says and then looks her over. “Are you going out somewhere?”

“Yes,” Rose admits, “I’m meeting Tosh for drinks at the pub.”

“Ah yes,” he muses, “the human ritual of _meeting at the pub_.”

“If you wanted to go all you had to do was ask,” Rose smirks at him.

“Not likely,” he sneers as if she’d said something incredibly distasteful. “Why would I want to expose myself to a room full of hormone fueled _humans_?”

“I’ll see you later,” Rose says as she ignores his last jib, “try to keep out of trouble will you?”

“ _Oh,_ ” he scoffs. “That’s the pot calling the kettle black.”

Rose laughs and shuts the door behind her, heading off to meet Tosh at the pub.

 

                                                       

* * *

 

 

 

               The pub is loud and smells of sweat and alcohol. People packed into a tiny building with loud music and plenty of beer. Rose finds Tosh at a table towards the back, orders drinks and then takes a seat across from her.

“What was the point of doing this again?” Rose says over the loud music.

“To try and remember what fun is I suppose?” Tosh laughs.

“Tosh,” Rose says as she looks at her knowingly, “why do I get this feeling you wanted to ask Owen but you were too scared?”

“Because,” Tosh admits, “I was.”

“Tosh,” Rose sighs as she sips her drink. “You’ve wanted to ask Owen out since the moment he walked into my office looking for a job years ago.”

“True,” Tosh nods. “Very true.”

“Hi,” says a dark haired gentleman with a bright smile.

“Hi,” Rose says as she returns his smile.

“I was wondering,” he says as he meets Roses gaze, “I saw you come in here earlier…I was wondering if you’d like to dance?”

“Yeah sure,” Rose grins at him and glances at Tosh who urges her to go with him.

               They dance and it’s lovely and he’s a perfect gentleman. Rose thinks that maybe dating won’t be so terrible anymore, maybe she can actually spare some time for a love life. Then as she’s dancing she remembers how she and the Doctor who wasn’t used to go out dancing and sighs. It seems like even after all this time she can’t seem to let go of him. The pain gets easier to deal with but it never goes away completely, and sometimes even the little things will remind her of what she’s lost.

“I’m gonna run to the loo,” she tells him as they walk back to the table. She slips away and tries not to run to the bathroom, is caught by the arm half way and tugged towards the door instead. Rose starts to protest and realizes it’s the Master, “What are you doing here?”

“I’ve decided to call in on that little favor you owe me,” he explains easily.

“Not now,” she whines, “I’ve got to tell Tosh where I’m going and there’s this bloke waiting for me and---…”

“Forgive me for interrupting your attempts at mating with human males but I need your help,” he tells her as she follows him out onto the street.

“I’m not trying to _mate_ with anyone!” Rose says indignantly, “and how did you know where I was?”

“Your Mum told me,” he says as they walk down the street. “I need your help with something.”

“Yeah you said that already,” she points out, “I still need to tell Tosh I’m leaving.”

“Text her,” he says as if it were obvious and then when she scowls at him he rolls his eyes. “Oh hurry up then.”

Rose hurry’s back into the pub and says goodbye to Tosh before bidding the gentleman who danced with her goodnight. As she leaves she realizes she never even got his name, and for some reason that hadn’t even occurred to her. She meets the Master down the street and they walk back to her car and get in.  She drives them back towards her house and when she pulls into the driveway she shuts off the car and looks at him “What’s this all about?”

“You wanted me to teach you how to help me with the TARDIS,” he says, “I’m going to teach you.”

“This couldn’t wait until tomorrow?” Rose says skeptically.

“If you don’t want to learn,” he scowls, “then go back to that pheromone swamped filth fest you call a pub and I’ll go back to my work.”

“ _Alright,_ ” Rose sighs. “I just don’t see why this couldn’t wait till tomorrow.”

“I need help with some things that would be easier done with two people,” he admits as she follows him out to the TARDIS. “Besides that you sounded as if you weren’t keen on going to this…pub.”

“It wasn’t that I wasn’t keen,” Rose tells him as they go inside the TARDIS, “It was just that…. I haven’t really been out like that in a long while.”

“I see,” he says because it’s obvious he can’t really relate and instead turns the subject towards fixing the TARDIS instead, “Right…get changed and meet me back in the console room in ten.”

 

                                                           

* * *

 

 

               He spends the evening teaching her the basics, and she finds that she likes listening to him. He seems genuinely interested in the technical aspects of the TARDIS, enjoys tinkering with the machinery. Rose is a quick study and it doesn’t take her long to figure things out granted she still does make a few mistakes to which he makes a few rude quips about. He’s got brilliant ideas Rose thinks and is willing to admit some of them would actually be quite useful. Together they get the console fixed and pieced back together properly, replacing all the wires and insulated paneling above their heads.

               She’s quite proud of herself and because he’s so prone to rudeness and general sarcasm when he compliments her work she’s so surprised she nearly falls off the pilot’s seat.  She notices that on his own and when he’s not really trying it seemed like the Master generally did not know what to do with humans at all. He addressed her like he would his own people, spoke to her civilly though he wasn’t very good at not being rude. He had no filter when it came to his thoughts, and Rose really sort of appreciated his kind of honesty. It wasn’t often you found a person who would tell you the truth about whatever you wanted to know of them. He wasn’t the Doctor, Rose thinks silently. He did not like humans nor did he hold an interest in them like the Doctor did. He tolerated them because he was stuck on their planet nothing more.

“Where are you going to go when you get her fixed?” Rose asks as she watches him make tea in the TARDIS kitchen. Apparently he fixed that stove as well, and Rose wonders just how bored he actually was when she left for the pub earlier.

“I don’t know,” he admits while he pours the tea. “Probably far, far away…” he smirks and Rose can’t help but return it with a grin of her own.

“I rather enjoyed Catsacora five,” she says when he sets a cup of tea before her, fishing out the honey and sugar from a cabinet behind him afterwards. “It’s all advanced machinery and so many different species…so many new people to meet….the whole planet is so different…red skies….blue grass….I loved it.”

“They’ve got excellent food,” he agrees, “better then what I’ve found so far on this planet….although the jelly babies aren’t all that bad.”

“Jelly babies?” Rose smiles. “Really? You like jelly babies?”

“Nothing wrong with it,” he says a little defensively, “everybody likes them.”

“No,” Rose says quickly, “I just never imagined you the type to enjoy human _anything_.”

He shrugs, “I rather enjoy watching the cartoons your kind come up with,” he says, “endlessly creative you lot. However do you come up with it?”

“Just…. I dunno…imagination?” Rose says as she stirs honey and sugar with cream into her cup. “How did you lot come up with the idea of travelling in time?”

“It was a given,” he points out, “granted back in the prehistoric days, time travel hadn’t been possible yet…though our people were already highly advanced however Time Lords didn’t exist. That didn’t begin until _The Other_ came, granted all this is just a legend I heard as a child. He was supposedly how Time Lords began.”

Rose listens intently as she drinks her tea, marveling at the way his defenses drop and he’ll tell her secrets of his people he wouldn’t normally tell her in conversation. Sometimes she thinks he’s lonely and she’s the only one he has to talk to. He begrudgingly accepts her company because he knows he is the last of his kind now, knows that there will be nobody else to tell his stories to.

“Enjoying the tea?” he comments lightly.

Her eyes pop open to look at him with a sheepish smile. “it’s lovely really….that kettle is _wonderful_ …love me a bit of alien tech.”

“Yes,” he agrees as he sips his own tea and glances back at the odd looking kettle on the stove. “I fixed it so that it heats the water twice as fast as an average kettle and brews the tea right along with it…I’m good with the technical stuff.”

“So I’ve noticed,” Rose nods in agreement and continues to enjoy her tea. When the silence becomes heavy between them Rose asks, “So you know all about me and the Doctor….how about you and him? How come you two hate each other so much?”

“I don’t _hate_ him,” the Master scowls. “I just don’t _like_ him. We’re friends him and I, have been for centuries. Friends do that you know, dislike each other sometimes. He has an interest in the human species I’ll never understand. You kind are so primitive….it would be so easy to dominate your planet and take over. I did that once,” he says distantly, “I managed for a whole year once.”

“What?” Rose blinks at him. “Really?”

“Yes,” he says as he drifts in memory, “That’s where the name came from…Harold Saxon…or Harry if you like. I once killed two-thirds of the world’s population using giant spherical metal orbs containing the future human race from the end of the universe. I then stole a ship I myself designed…the Valiant….and on it I controlled the whole planet along with the Doctor and Jack Harkness.”

“So you basically took over the planet using a bunch of giant metal balls ….and how exactly did you get the human race back from the end of the universe?” Rose says with raised eyebrows.

               He seemed to be enjoying this, telling her stories. He begins by explaining the archangel network to her and all about the eighteen months he had on earth before the Doctor realized he was even there. Parts of the story scared the crap out of her, made her worry that he might be deceiving her like he deceived the Doctor. He is watching her carefully now, as if he’s waiting for her to go running for the door any second now that he’s told her a little of his past.

“I don’t get how two people who are friends could try and murder each other so often,” Rose comments idly.

He shrugs, staring into his cup, “It’s how we communicate.”

“Odd way of saying _your my friend_ , but _ok_.” Rose chuckles.

“So what’s different now?” Rose adds after a little while; her tea had gone cold while she mulled over his story.

“The Doctor fixed the drums in my head,” he admits, “I suppose….I suppose I could just….I mean I can _think_ clearly now.”

“So…no more world domination?” Rose asks curiously.

“Not just yet,” he rubs his face tiredly. “I’ve got other pressing matters you know,” he pauses and peers at her thoughtfully, “don’t assume that means I’m the _good guy_.”

“You don’t really look all that old,” Rose points out, “About the same age as me really.”

“Hardly,” he tells her, “I’m nearly eleven hundred and three.”

“Wow,” Rose says, “the Doctor’s younger then you then.”

 “No,” he says, “were the same age.”

“Oh,” Rose frowns at him. “Last time I saw him he was nine hundred and six.”

“Time travel,” he explains, “you could see him one day and then the following day he turns up he could be a couple hundred years older than when you last saw him.”

They sit in the quiet of the TARDIS after that and they don’t say a word, the hum of the TARDIS lulling them both into peaceful silence. The enjoyed their tea and each other’s company for the time being, and that was all Rose could ask for right then.

 

                                                         

* * *

 

               In the morning Rose wakes to the sound of the TARDIS humming happily and realizes she must have managed to make her way to her old bedroom before dropping off for the night. The TARDIS is silent and that’s odd for her, he’s usually up at all hours tinkering away in the console room. When she groggily makes her way out into the console room she can’t find him anywhere and looks up at the TARDIS curiously. “Where is he?”

The TARDIS just hums in response and she rubs the sleep from her eyes before a thought occurs to her. When was the last time she saw him sleep? Time lords needed very little sleep, but they still slept at one point or another. Maybe he was asleep somewhere? Satisfied that this must surely be the answer Rose heads out of the TARDIS and back towards the house, the smell of bacon and eggs wafting through the kitchen window as she walks in.

“And where have you been all night?” Jackie says knowingly.

“I went out with Tosh for a while and then came back to help Harry with some repairs on the TARDIS,” Rose explains easily.

“Really?” Jackie says, “I saw him all but dragging you back to the TARDIS last night…thought you two might have had a row or something.”

“No,” Rose says with a shake of her head as she makes tea and fills a plate with breakfast food. “Were alright.”

“You’re getting awfully friendly with him Rose,” Jackie warns as Rose switches on the living room TV and drops down on the sofa with her breakfast and tea on the coffee table in front of her. “Just be careful.”

“I am,” Rose says as she watches the news, listens to the report about another kidnapping. Rose ponders this for a moment as she eats her breakfast and then blinks at the TV screen, “I am _such_ an idiot.”

“Sorry?” Pete says as he walks in with a mug of tea at his lips. “You what?”

“I’m an idiot Pete,” Rose tells him earnestly, “The missing children…the kidnappings…four kidnappings in one week and that alien thing we found had a chemical in its brain tissue only found in _children_ …Pete I’m an _idiot_!”

“You think it’s connected?” Pete asks as he sits down beside her to watch the news.

“Yes!” Rose says as she scrambles for the house phone and dials Tosh’s number.

“Yeah?” a sleepy voice says on the other end.

“Tosh,” Rose says to the sleepy person on the other end, “It’s the children Tosh…the missing children….those things are kidnapping the children!”

“What?” she says sharply, very much awake suddenly, “you’re certain?”

“Yeah,” Rose says, “there’s been another kidnapping…Tosh can you contact some of the parents and see if they’ll let us investigate?”

“Yeah,” Tosh says as she climbs out of bed. “Let me just…let me get dressed and I’ll head down to the institute and see what I can find.”

“Good,” Rose says, “I’m on my way too.”

“Going to need help with this one?” Pete calls as Rose runs up the stairs.

“I’ll call you if I need back-up!” Rose calls back as she grabs clothes from her bedroom and makes her way to the shower.

“Pete,” Jackie says a little nervously as she walks out into the living room to look at him.

“I know Jacks,” he sighs. “I know what I promised him. I can’t crowd her though…if she doesn’t want help then she doesn’t want it. If Rose got herself into a bind I’m sure she’d say something to us.”

“You told me when he disappeared that she’d be alright working for Torchwood without him,” Jackie says pointedly, “you told me she’d be _safe_.”

“Well,” Pete says, “about as safe as someone can get working for Torchwood Jackie. Rose has lived this sort of life for too long to ask her to quit now. I know your worried about her Jackie but she’s thirty-two years old….she has the right to make her own choices.”

Jackie glances back towards the staircase with a frown curving her lips downward. “I hope she makes good ones.”

                                                           

* * *

 

 

“ _Where is it where is it where is it…._ ” Rose sings aloud as she rummages through the bins in the console room. She needed to meet Tosh but before she did that she wanted one thing. The Master appears in the console room shortly after, watches Rose dig through the bins with a look of determination on her face.

“What are you doing?” he says as she pauses to look up at him.

“The Doctor’s screwdriver,” she says, “I left it in here on the console and I can’t find it anywhere…I thought maybe you’d tossed it in the bins or something.”

“I haven’t seen it,” he says, “Maybe the TARDIS took it.”

“Why would she do that?” Rose asks bewildered, “She knows I need it.”

“Who knows why she does what she does,” he says as he steps around her and sits down in the pilot’s seat to observe her.

“It _has_ to be here somewhere,” Rose mutters.

They both look up as the console dings cheerfully, a flash of green lights and a soft hum from the TARDIS. Rose spots something sticking up out of the console and she stands, walking towards it. “You…. made me another sonic screwdriver?” Rose asks the TARDIS, a bright smile on her lips “Thank you!”

She pulls the screwdriver from the console and looks it over; this one was geared towards Rose instead of the Doctor who wasn’t. It had the same settings but it was beautifully crafted in gold with what she thought was her name in Gallifreyan etched into the metal. “Thank you,” Rose whispers in awe as she runs her fingers over the metal cherishingly, “It’s beautiful.”

“Oh I see how it is,” The Master remarks, “she’ll make _you_ a new sonic screwdriver but she won’t even clean out the fridge for _me_.”

“You’ve got to _earn_ her respect,” Rose points out, “Not demand it.”

“I’m her _pilot,_ ” he scowls. “And further more I am _The Master_ , I deserve respect.”

“ _Yes_ ,” Rose tells him with raised eyebrows, “and I’m _Bad Wolf_ but you don’t see me running down the street shouting it.”

He rolls his eyes at her, “I don’t run down the street _shouting_ it.”

“You’re a _stranger_ ,” she tells him after a moment, changing the subject pointedly, “she doesn’t have any reason to trust you…being a pilot is more than just a title…you’ve got to show her she can count on you.”

He watches her with something like approval in his eyes, clearly surprised by her sudden insight, “Then I shall endeavor to earn her respect.”

“I certainly hope you do,” Rose smiles at him, “I’ll be out late…. I think I’ve figured out what the Yamencei are doing.”

“Have fun with that,” he echoes from a previous statement she made earlier and she laughs a little and leaves. The TARDIS whines as she closes the door and he glances up at the rotor, “What?”

The uppermost part of the rotor spins while the lights flash and he looks up at her as the emotions he senses from her are picked up psychically. “I am _not_ getting involved in any of that,” he tells her pointedly, “we’re staying right here and besides that…you can barely _hover_.”

The TARDIS whines again and he shakes his head adamantly, “I _won’t_ risk your life.”

He could have sworn if the TARDIS could speak she would have said, _‘Oh NOW you care about my wellbeing.’_

             

* * *

 

 

 

“You found anything?” Rose says as she walks onto the department floor and Tosh is already hard at work searching for addresses.

“A couple….there were several missing reports….the oldest was a Maggie Wright, then there was Ashley Berring, Mark Collister, and a Greg Rennings.”

“Anyone answer?” Rose says as she looks over the reports.

“Just one…Greg’s parents are willing to let us have a look,” Tosh tells hers as Rose grabs the SUV keys and Tosh gets her coat. The drive the far side of London on the edge of a town.  It’s overcast outside and the brick houses lining the streets where Greg lives are well kept. Rose knocks on the door and a kind looking woman answers, though the lines of stress and weariness on her face say that she’s had a rough couple of weeks.

“Can I help you?” she asks, looking between Rose and Tosh.

“Hello,” Rose says, “I’m special agent Rose Tyler and this is my assistant Toshiko Sato, we work for the government and were currently looking into the reports on the missing children…we spoke earlier on the phone.”

“Oh yes,” the woman says, “come in please.”

               The woman is cordial as she offers them tea and explains what happened. After Rose is certain the Mother knows about as much as anyone else does about any of it and afterwards Rose goes to examine Greg’s room.

“I don’t even know what we’re looking for,” Tosh says as they look around.

“Anything abnormal,” Rose says, “anything out of place.”

They look over the toys, check the latches on the windows and doors and come up with nothing. Finally Rose drops down on the edge of the bed with a sigh “It’s almost like they just….disappeared into thin air.”

“Trans-mat beam?” Tosh suggests helpfully.

“Doubt it,” Rose says as she looks around the room. “I don’t think we’re going to find anything here,” she sighs and gets to her feet. “Wanna go get a coffee?”

“Yeah,” Tosh agrees as they turn and leave, slightly disheartened as they bid the Mother goodbye and head out onto the streets. They walk along until they reach a local park where a single young boy was playing with a kickball. 

“Hold on,” Rose says as she strides towards the young boy, Tosh following behind her. “Hello,” Rose says as the boy plays with his kickball, “That’s a nice football you have there.”

“Yeah,” the boy says as he glances between the two older women, “are you from the police too?”

“Yeah,” Rose says “Did you know Greg?”

“Yeah,” he says “Greg was my best mate.”

“What’s your name?” Rose asks as she kneels down so she can meet him at eye level.

“Jimmy,” he says quietly.

“Do you know what happened to him Jimmy?” Rose asks gently “Did you hear about anything?”

“Yeah,” Jimmy admits to them both, “The bogeyman got him.”

“The bogeyman?” Rose smiles a little. “What do you mean by that?”

“I mean,” Jimmy says, “the bogeyman got him.” Jimmy frowns at the two older women before adding “he got Maggie too.”

“Maggie Wright,” Tosh provides quietly, “that’s another one of the kidnapped children.”

“Jimmy,” Rose asks, “did you know an Ashley or a Mark too?”

“Yeah,” Jimmy says, “they went to my school too.”

“Wait,” Rose says “you all went to the same school? You all live in the same area?”

“Yeah,” Jimmy says and then asks “why?”

“Rose” Tosh says quietly, “the bogeyman from under the bed….what if they’re coming up from under the bed and kidnapping the children?”

“Them?” Jimmy asks, “Who are _they_?”

“Look” Rose turns to Jimmy. “I’m gonna try and find your friend I promise...but I need you to promise me you won’t go looking yourself alright?”

Jimmy watches them tentatively for a moment before he sighs. “Alright…I promise.”

“Thank you” Rose says as she turns to Tosh “We need to check under the bed.”

               They make their way back to Greg’s house whose Mother is surprised to see them back so soon. She lets them in upon seeing their eagerness and lets them back into Greg’s room. Together Rose and Tosh push the bed aside, wood framing scrapping against thick carpet. Rose pulls out her sonic screwdriver and scans the area, squinting at the results. “There isn’t a sign of any sort of alien activity at all” Rose says while Tosh runs her fingers over the carpet, “Not a damn thing.”

“Wait” Tosh says as her fingers grip the carpet and curve over a delicate cut in the fabric. She lifts a small jagged piece of the carpet up off the floor and under it they see a rough looking hole in the wood beneath the carpet, cut haphazardly with what Rose guessed must have been some kind of laser.

“What the hell?” Rose says as she kneels down next to the hole and shines the screwdriver into it, scanning the ground beneath them. Rose reads the results and frowns at Tosh “Tunnels….like…. _weevil_ tunnels…all around this area…in this area _specifically_.”

“Just in this part of town?” Tosh says bewildered, “I wonder why.”

“Only one way to find out” Rose tells her pointedly, “Let’s find a sewer cover and go check it out.”  


                                                                         

* * *

 

 

They replace the carpet and bed before leaving the house, reassuring Greg’s Mother that they would let her know if they found anything. Rose calls for back-up this time, and an hour later reluctantly Owen shows up.

“I told you I don’t want to go back down there,” he grumbles as they make their way to a sewer cover down the street from Greg’s house.

“I’d bring Ianto but he can hardly handle a gun right now,” Rose says “and if anything happens I need him to phone Pete for me.”

               Owen has brought the heavy artillery; Two-way radios, a couple of guns, Kevlar vests and breathers. They gear up and climb down into the sewers, radio’s switched on and flashlights shining. They search each tunnel together, finally pulling on breathers when the air gets to be bad. They finally reach the area beneath Greg’s house and the dirt tunnels that were dug into the ground and the brick walls of the sewer corridors.  “I’m going in,” Rose says as she holsters her gun and holds her flashlight in her mouth, Owen carefully hovering over the dirt tunnel in the ground while Rose carefully climbs down.

“Shit!” Rose cries out as she loses her footing and falls like someone on a water slide until she is hurled ass over end into an underground room.  She lands hard enough to knock the air out of her lungs, spends a couple of minutes trying to catch her breath while Owen and Tosh are calling her on the two way radio trying to see if she’s alright. She clicks the receiver a couple of times, hopes they understand that she’s responding the only way she can at the moment. Finally she gets to her feet and stands in the pitch black, holds the radio to her lips and says quietly “I can’t see a damn thing down here…I’ve lost my flashlight.”

“I’m sending one down to you” Owen says over the radio and Rose hears the clinking of a flashlight as it tumbles down the tunnel above her head. She sees the flash of light as it emerges from the tunnel and catches it clumsily before using it to scan the room around her. She was in a brick off room covered in plant like flora; in the very center of the room stood a giant…. _something_. It was absolutely bizarre looking, and as the light from her flashlight shone around the room she could see the same creatures she’d seen earlier, cowering at the very edges of the room like frightened animals.

“Hey,” Rose says gently “it’s alright…it’s ok…. _easy_ …” Rose says as she slowly steps towards them. Her radio crackles and at first she thinks Owen is trying to tell her something when she hears a strange hiss coming from the receiver. The hiss turns into a voice and the voice is whispering words in a slow strange sound that makes Rose think that whoever is speaking isn’t accustomed to the English language.

“We are…..” it hisses softly as its voice crackles over the receiver, “We are…..” it repeats, “afraid.”

“Hello,” says a voice from across the room.

Rose turns towards the sound of the voice and realizes there was a man standing behind what looked like a wire fence framed in steel except the wire was replaced by rows of blue light streamed from each end of the fence.

“Who are you?” Rose says as she shines the light in his direction.

He squints into the light of her flashlight and says aloud after a moment, “ _Lights_!”

“Who are you?” Rose repeats firmly.

“I’m the controller,” he says as he watches her “and you are Rose Tyler.”

“How do you know my name?” Rose demands as she steps up to the fence to get a better look at him. He seemed like an ordinary man, thinning brown hair parted to one side and dressed in a pressed charcoal grey suit.

“I admit I had to look you up” he says, “you’ve been meddling.”

“I tend to do that a lot” Rose says cheekily, “especially when people are kidnapping innocent children.”

“You’ll have to forgive them” he says casually, “the children are they’re source of nourishment…they really can’t help themselves.”

Slowly so that her new acquaintance doesn’t notice, Rose presses her finger down on the talk button of the radio so that Owen and Tosh can hear what’s going on.  “What are they?”

“They” he says, “are the result of a failed experiment.”

“You did this?” Rose asks pointedly, “You made them?”

“Yes” he says with a coy smile, “well…partly….my employer hired me to look after them really.”

“Who is your employer?” Rose asks casually.

“That Ms. Tyler,” he says “Isn’t the question you should be asking me right now.”

“And what should I be asking you then?” Rose says as she drops all pretenses of civility.

“The question you should be asking Ms. Tyler,” he says as he leans towards the fence, “Is how am I going to get out of here?”

Meanwhile up above Owen and Tosh look at each other meaningfully before scrambling back towards the sewer tunnel entrance. When they are street level Owen pulls out his phone and calls Pete. After a couple of rings he picks up the phone “Pete Tyler.”

“Pete” Owen says as he struggles to catch his breath “They’ve got Rose…. we need help.”

 

                                                       

* * *

 

 

               She is taken down a long narrow corridor which reminded Rose oddly enough of a space ship. Metal hallways built into the ground beneath the city like a giant laboratory deep beneath the city. She is forcefully seated in a chair while the controller takes a seat across from her behind a plain looking desk. “What to do with you” he says as he taps his chin “I wonder whatever I shall do.”

“They’ll come looking for me” Rose tells him, “My friends….they’ll find me.”

“Oh yes” the controller agrees, “and then I’ll have the set.”

“What?” Rose blinks at him.

“Did you think I was going to kill you Ms. Tyler?” The controller scoffs, “My employer wants you alive, and now that I’ve acquired you I can hand you over.”

“You can’t just keep me here!” Rose says, “you’re making this worse for yourself. When my friends find me and believe me…they _will_ find me….you’ll be in for it then mate.”

“I should like to see them try,” The controller says with a smirk as he motions to one of the guards behind her. “Take her to the holding chamber.”

She is stripped of all weapons and her radio and thrown into a square metal chamber with no windows. The door is locked behind her and is the same color as the walls, with only a tiny rectangular slider towards the top of the door so that someone might look inside if they wanted too.  Rose slumps against the far wall and glares at the door, already having taken one look at this four walled jail cell and knowing she couldn’t get out even if she tried.

               Eventually after a long while she’s beating on the door as she tries to kick it in, knowing it will get her nowhere but she hates feeling helpless like this. If the Doctor were here she’d have never gotten caught like this. He’d have seen what danger lurked down at the bottom of that tunnel and would have never allowed her to climb down into the room below.

Now she was a lab rat caught in a cage and she couldn’t get out. She screams herself hoarse as she demands that the controller speak to her, and when they’ve finally had enough of her outrage they gas the room much to Rose’s dismay. She feels sleepy and light headed as she collapses to the floor, suspended and weightless like being under water.

               When she dreams she dreams of the Doctor. She dreams she’s running through the TARDIS and the corridors are endless. She sees him not far ahead of her but just when she thinks she’s finally caught him he turns down another corridor and disappears completely. It reminds her of the endless cycle of their relationship. No matter how hard they tried, no matter what they did they could never stay together. She lost him when she was trapped in another universe and then lost him again after five years of being together…it was as if the universe was intentionally keeping them apart.

She is jarred awake by somebody lifting her up and she slumps against them because she has no energy to move at all. She is dead weight in the arms of whoever is carrying her, the familiar smell of musk and starlight reminds her of her lost lover. She presses closer as her fingers curl into the soft material of his suit jacket and she can hear his voice sharp and insistent as it breaks through the fog of sleep “Rose Tyler” it demands eagerly, “wake _up_!”

“What’s wrong with her?” another voice asks, _Owen_ she thinks.

“She’s been drugged,” the lovely sound of that deep voice answers “Give her a minute…hand me that breather….she needs clean oxygen.”

Rose breaths deeply when the lovely voice urges her too and slowly but surely like comical stars popping around her head she starts to become aware of her surroundings…and who’s carrying her.

“What happened?” she says groggily as the Master gently sets her down on her feet but keeps a hold of her elbows until she regains her balance. Her legs refuse to work at first and feel like jelly as she wobbles a little before finding her balance.

“You got _caught_ ” the Master says flatly, “I told you meddling would only get you into trouble.”

It takes her a minute to realize she’d been snuggling against the Master before she blushes a little and runs a hand through her hair. “Where are we?”

“Detainment complex” Owen says, “I called Pete as soon as you got caught and he sent back-up,” Owen adds as he motions towards the Master.

“There’s more” Tosh tells her, “there just on the upper levels.”

“Did you catch him?” Rose asks, “The controller…. did anyone catch him?”

“A bit tacky” the Master says with a sneer, “ _the controller_.”

“Someone’s been meddling down here with genetic engineering…it’s a _science experiment_. He knows whose behind all this…we have to find him!”

“Rose” Tosh says “when we arrived they were evacuating the building….all we found were the missing children locked up in a containment cell on the floor below this one.”

“Somebody knew you were coming” Rose says thoughtfully, “they were afraid…. afraid of what?” Rose ponders this for a moment, “Maybe….maybe of you?” She turns to look at the Master, “Maybe they didn’t want you seeing any of it?”

“Did anyone catch any of the guards?” Rose presses as she follows them out to a long dimly lit corridor.

“Yes, several actually” Tosh tells her, “but the moment we tried to interrogate any of them they all just….dropped….there was this device on the back of their necks that emitted a signal and electrocuted them all…they’re all dead.”

“Damn” Rose scowls and then as an afterthought, “How did _you_ get here anyways?” Rose says as she looks up at the Master “I thought you wanted nothing to do with any of this?”

“I brought him” Pete says as he approaches them from behind, “Are you alright?”

“Yeah” Rose nods.

“Your Mother persuaded him to come along,” Pete says with a knowing smile in the Master direction.

The Master snorts derisively in the background and Rose glances back at him, “You even brought Owen and Tosh along with you?”

“Yes” the Master says begrudgingly, “Pete made me.”

“See you at home Rose” Pete chuckles a little and then turns to go and speak to some of the Torchwood personnel that had arrived.

Rose glances around, hands on her hips as she checks out the surrounding area, “How do we get out of here?”

“Down the tunnel at the far end and hang a left past the giant broccoli,” Owen says casually.

“Giant…. _broccoli_?” Rose blinks at him.

The Master sighs heavily and glares at Owen, “It’s wasn’t a giant _vegetable_ ,” he tells him pointedly “I told you…it was the breeding stalk of the Yamencei.”

“ _Giant broccoli_ ” Owen says with a nod and looks at Rose. “You alright then?”

“Yeah” Rose rubs her eyes as she tries to shake the remnants of sleep from her mind, “I’d rather not drive though.”

“I’ll take her,” The Master cuts in before anyone else can say anything and Rose is suddenly being ushered towards the exit. She waves at Owen and Tosh as they go and blinks up at the Master’s sudden need for departure.

“What is it?” Rose asks as they climb the make-shift ladder Pete brought to get down into the sewers.

“I don’t think I could have stood another second in the company of your…. friends” The Master scowls up at her as they climb. “And it smells really rather awful down here.”

“Yeah” Rose agrees as she yanks off the breather when they reach the surface, “Fresh air at last.”

“Agreed” he says as he yanks off his own breather.

“How come I could breathe inside that room though?” Rose says.

“You were in the pen keeping the experiments inside,” he tells her “that was there environment but not the environment of the controller. Which means the controller isn’t associated with the Yamencei at all.”

“And the Yamencei we found lurking around in the weevil tunnels?” Rose asks as they walk to Pete’s car.

“Escaped I imagine,” the Master shrugs.

“So…you can drive?” Rose says as they get into the car.

“Yes” he says almost indignantly “I’m quite capable of driving a car…no doubt far better than your capabilities behind the wheel of a spaceship.”

“No need to get touchy,” Rose says as he starts the car and puts it in gear, the car lurching forward gently as they turn onto the streets and head home. He doesn’t say anything so she continues, anything to fill the silence between them, “What did my Mum say to you anyways?”

“She threatened to throw me out….and mentioned that the only reason I’m not locked away in Torchwood is because you allow it….if something were to happen to you...that alliance would be compromised.”

“Oh,” Rose nods and stares out the window, trying to ignore the tiny bit of disappointment welding up in her chest. She knew he wasn’t the Doctor or anything, but part of her hoped he might be a little like her lost friend. Part of her hoped he might rescue her because he _wanted_ to, not because he was obligated to.

“I’m not the Doctor” he says into the silence and she wonders if he can read her mind “don’t expect me to come and save you every time you get yourself into trouble Rose Tyler.”

“I wasn’t expecting…” Rose trails off when he gives her a withering look and instead continues to stare out the window.

“You’ve got this idea in your head that just because I’m a Time Lord I’m obligated to protect your silly little planet and the universe or what have you…. I’m _not_ ” he says pointedly, “I’m nothing like the Doctor so don’t ever confuse _me_ for him.”

“Trust me nobody would make that mistake easily” Rose says sourly as they pull up into the drive-way of the house. She gets out of the car without a word and stalks up to the front door with the Master in tow. Her Mum opens the door as she approaches and she stalks past without a word, the Master following with a flat look on his face.

“Rose are you alright?” Jackie says frantically as she follows her upstairs, the Master disappearing out into the garden.

“I’m fine Mum,” Rose sighs as she strips out of her dirty clothes and gets ready for a shower “Really I’m ok.”

                                                         

* * *

 

               The following day the children are returned to their grateful and overjoyed parents, the tunnels are cleaned out and any remaining traces of the experiment are bagged and sealed away in the Torchwood vaults. Rose takes a couple of days off upon Pete’s request, so now she sits in her bedroom watching TV and eating from a bowl of popcorn. The Master was avoiding her and she didn’t mind a bit because she was avoiding him too. It wasn’t until he’d failed to emerge from the TARDIS for two days straight that she deemed it necessary to check up on him.

               She walks out to the garden sporting sweat pants and a tank top, her hair pulled back into a messy ponytail. When she sticks her head inside the TARDIS hums in delight upon her arrival and she pats the coral lovingly “Where is he then?”

“Where’s who?” the Master says as he emerges from the depths of the TARDIS, straightening the arms of a cleanly pressed black suit jacket that was tailored to fit him perfectly. Rose is caught off guard by his appearance; the heavy overcoat he wears is expensive looking and fits the trim of his body neatly. It emphasizes his shoulders and the curve of his lean body in a way that makes Rose stare for just a little too long.

“Never mind,” Rose says as she steps fully into the TARDIS. “Mum hasn’t seen you in two days…I think she misses your snide remarks about her cooking.”

“I’ve been busy,” he says flatly as he looks himself over in the reflection of the metal in the TARDIS corridor.

“I can see that,” she says as she looks him over.

He smirks at her before turning on the spot and giving her an expectant look, “I managed to get the wardrobe working” he tells her “What do you think?”

“It’s nice” Rose says with a nod. “Really...nice…you look nice” Rose says quickly before she blurts out anything she’d rather him not hear.

“It will do” he says with a nod. “Finally something that fits me right.”

“Pete will be grateful to have his suits back” Rose says suddenly “you were a bit too lean for them.”  


“ _Oh_ ” he says with raised eyebrows and a mischievous glint in his eyes. “You think I’m _lean_ do you?”

“You just built differently…you’re all skinny like the Doctor was,” Rose explains.

“So….” He says as he walks towards her in that oddly appealing overcoat. “You’ve been looking?”

“Don’t flatter yourself” Rose says dryly, “You made me help you find clothes and you were using my shower at one point…kind of hard _not_ to look at one point or another.”

“No need to explain Rose Tyler” he waves her off nonchalantly his tone completely innocent. “Look if you must….you humans cannot control your biological urge to reproduce.”

“I wasn’t _looking_!” Rose says just a little _too_ sharply and he smirks at her because he knows he’s got her. Rose inwardly curses because she’s let him get to her and instead of telling him off she turns to go back in the house.

“Rose Tyler,” he says as she’s leaving “I’ll need your help today in the TARDIS.”

“All you ever do is work on this TARDIS” Rose sighs. “You never leave it.”

“Of course,” he says “the sooner she’s fixed the sooner I can leave this wretched planet.”

“Do you really hate it here so much?” Rose asks softly.

He starts to answer but falls silent, watches her for a few minutes before he says ,“You’ll need to change clothes if you’re going to help me” he points out, “we’ll be doing some repair work in the engine room.”

He doesn’t even wait to hear her answer as he strips off his coat and suit jacket, rolling up the sleeves of his pressed white shirt before he retrieves the Doctor’s old toolbox and starts down the corridor towards the engine room.  Rose stares at his retreating back for a moment before inwardly cursing once more.

Who was she kidding? Rose thinks as she feels the curiosity in her build. She’s never seen the engine room before and the Master was willing to teach her about repairing the TARDIS. Despite his cynical and hateful nature she was going to end up helping him anyways.

 

 


	5. Angels In London

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own any of it or make any money from any of it, all of it belongs to those who created Doctor Who.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When Rose and the Master are attacked by living statues, they pay a visit to Victorian London and find more then they bargained for.

He was trying to distract her from going to work. He’s kept her busy in the TARDIS for the entire week that she took off. Now that the time was nearing for her to return he was constantly finding new things for her to repair or something to teach her. While it pleased her to learn about fixing up the TARDIS and gaining a better understanding of how she worked, she knew he was up to something. It was an early Saturday morning, two days before she was due to return to work when she finally cornered him on the subject.

               She was helping him carry a few heavy pipes down to the engine room to replace a couple of the fuel lines when she finally decided to tackle the problem head on “So…” Rose begins as they turn another corner and descend ever deeper into the bowls of the TARDIS. “You’ve kept me awfully busy.”

“We’ve got a lot to do,” he says as if it were obvious.

“Yes,” Rose agrees, “but I’ve hardly had the time to set foot out of the TARDIS for more than an hour at a time,” she tells him, “hell I feel asleep once screwing a bolt into place on one of the coral panels in the console room.”

“Yes well,” he says, “humans need more sleep then my people…I suppose I might have been pushing you just a little too hard that particular evening.”

“Don’t get me wrong,” Rose says as they enter the engine room and set the pipes down on the floor. “I want to learn….I just….need to sleep once in a while too.”

“I let you sleep,” he says as they set to work shutting down the fuel lines and removing the old piping.

“For like… _more_ than four or five hours,” Rose tells him, “I need more sleep than that.”

“I let you sleep longer than that,” he argues.

“and food…I need to eat once in a while too,” she adds, “and shower….go outside in the sunlight….get some fresh air…I realize your people don’t need all that nearly as much but you have to remember my fragile human needs once in a while.”

The TARDIS kitchen is always open to you,” he points out, “I’ve never stopped you from eating.”

“ _You_ need to stop and eat something once in a while,” she says, “get some sleep too.”

“I scarcely need little more than four hours of sleep a week,” he tells her, “and one meal for me would equal the energy you obtain from three meals in a day. My body is better at processing nutrients and retaining them then yours is.”

“I also need to go back to work on Monday,” she tells him and waits for the other shoe to drop.

“Yes,” he agrees tentatively, “I suppose you do.”

“So I won’t be able to help you as much,” Rose adds as she watches him mull over what she’s just told him.

“I am aware,” he says and Rose thinks he won’t fight her on the subject until he adds, “I don’t see why you should though…I’ve told you meddling gets you into nothing but trouble and you’re better off just staying here in the TARDIS with me.”

“I’ve got a job to do,” Rose says, “and I’ll need your help sometimes to do it.”

“You’ve gotten on just fine without me before,” he points out, “I don’t see why it’s different now.”

“Because,” Rose says with a wicked gleam in her eye, “my Mum will throw you out on your backside and Torchwood will lock you away in a detainment cell otherwise…..and I’ll lock up the TARDIS and you’ll never get to finish repairing her.”

He stiffens and turns to look at her, leveling his hardened gaze upon her like two people playing a game of chess. “Are you trying to blackmail me Rose Tyler?”

“Oh yes,” Rose says deviously as she steps closer to him. “You’ll help me or you’ll spend the rest of your days rotting away in a detainment cell in the bowls of Torchwood.”

She thinks she’s pushing her luck with him as he sizes her up. She’s facing down a thousand years’ worth of experience and cunning right now and if she made one wrong move her little plan would fall apart.

“Clever little thing, aren’t you?” he says as he steps closer to peer down into her bright brown eyes. “Blackmailing me into joining your little _Scooby gang_.”

“You need to get out more,” Rose says, “your cynic is starting to show.”

He scoffs a little. “I’m not a cynic I just see the world as it really is, not what I wish it was.”

“What do you wish it were?” Rose raises an eyebrow.

He grins at her wickedly. “ _Mine_.”

“I do believe I recall a story about how it _was_ yours at one point and it all blew up in your face,” Rose points out.

“Don’t remind me,” he scowls. “Your precious Doctor was notorious for raining on my parade.”

“You tried to take over the planet with a bunch of shiny metal balls and turn the Earth into a _death star_ ….it really wasn’t that hard to rain on your parade I imagine.”

“They were called Toglafane,” he says indignantly, “and I wasn’t turning the Earth into a _death star_ …..I was turning it into a _war ship_.”

“Same difference,” Rose says dryly.

“Someone’s _clearly_ been watching too many _Star Wars_ movies,” he points out with a smirk hidden just at the corner of his lips.

“He was never _really_ mine,” Rose says quietly after a long while as they fit the new pipe into place and screw the bolts into place. “No matter how hard we tried….it was like the universe kept trying to keep us apart.”

“I know the feeling,” he muses, “no matter how hard I tried to control the universe it was like she kept out-witting me.”

Rose laughs a little and rolls her eyes. “She?” Rose says, “why _she_?”

“Why not?” he asks, “she’s certainly cunning enough for it…vast…infinite…beautiful…and unpredictable.

“That’s quite possibly the closest thing to romantic I’ve ever heard out of you,” Rose says before changing the subject quickly enough that he doesn’t even have time to process what she just said “So…Monday morning, nine A.M sharp…be ready to go.”

He groans a little and rubs his face. His tone is perfectly petulant as he says, “Must I _really_?”

“Yes,” Rose smiles cheekily at him. “It’ll be good for you.”

“I _highly_ doubt that,” he scowls irritably as they head back up to the console room.

It was going to be a _long_ day.

                                                 

* * *

 

               Monday morning rolls around bright and early. Rose is waiting patiently for him in the kitchen when he appears in that overly appealing coat and clean pressed suit. The glimmer of his so called laser screwdriver catches the light from his inside coat pocket as he walks, and Rose tries not to stare at him as he enters the kitchen. He looked _really_ good like that she thinks, even though she knew better than to let her thoughts wander like that.

“Alright you two,” Jackie Tyler announces as she sets a tray of freshly baked cinnamon rolls on the kitchen table “eat up and clear out, I’ve got a couple of friends coming over later so we can discuss the annual banquet for your Father’s company.”

“Yeah,” Rose says as she snags a cinnamon roll. “Always looking forward to _that_.”

The biting sarcasm in her tone makes Jackie roll her eyes and scowl at her. “You’re going…stop trying to get out of it.”

Rose quirks an eyebrow. “It’s not even for a week yet,” she chews thoughtfully before answering. “I don’t see why you’re in such a rush already.”

“Always best to start early,” Jackie says, “you know how big that party gets.”

“I do so _love_ a party,” the Master comments lightly as he tentatively tastes one of the cinnamon buns before grimacing and dropping it back onto the tray.

“ _You’re_ not invited,” Jackie says flatly.

“Mum,” Rose sighs and then looks at the Master. “We’d better get going.”

“Agreed,” he says a little flatly and follows Rose out to her car.

 

                                         

* * *

 

 

               When they reach the department level Rose worked on, Owen is seated at his desk and when he catches sight of the Master he raises his eyebrows and looks at Rose. “And why is _he_ here exactly?”

“He’s going to work with us now,” Rose tells Owen simply, “be nice.”

“So,” the Master says cheerfully as the members of the Torchwood team look upon him with immediate dismay, “When do we get _jackets_?”

“Rose,” Owen says quietly after the Master passes him by and sets to work sorting through the unclassified bins so Rose can work on paperwork in her office. “I’m telling you I’ll end up knocking his teeth in.”

“Be nice,” she tells him pointedly, “I’ve got to get him out of the house before my Mum goes mad.”

“Yes that’s nice and all but what about _our_ sanity?” Owen argues with a frown curving his lips.

“He isn’t that bad Owen,” Rose tells him just as the Master tosses an unruly looking bit of rubbish on top of Owen’s desk. Owen grits his teeth and glares at Rose pointedly. “Well…he’s a little rough around the edges but we can sort that out surely.”

“I don’t get paid enough to deal with this crap,” Owen grumbles as he returns to his desk to clear off the trash the Master felt unworthy of the unclassified bins.

                                                       

* * *

 

 

 

               They set about their business, a daily routine memorized after years of practice. Tosh scans the skies of planet Earth, Owen surveys the footage of the CCTV camera’s that were reported to hold evidence of alien activity, and Rose covers the paperwork. She sometimes hated being the director of department level four; sometimes she thinks Pete gave her this job just so it would pay well and keeps her behind a desk rather then put her in the line of fire every other day.  She reviews Owen’s account on the attack down in the sewers and finds it lacking substantially. He doesn’t like writing reports, and so he tends to skip a lot of details just to finish it quickly.

               She finds him not at his desk but near the back of the room by the copy machine pressing the start button over and over, pausing only until the copy is made before pressing the little green button again.

“Owen,” she says as she approaches him. “This report is incomplete…I’m sorry but you’re going to have to redo it.” When he doesn’t answer her, his eyes glassy and fixated on the copy machine she touches his shoulder. “Owen?”

“I…can’t….stop…” he murmurs as he stares blankly, “he told me I can’t….I have to…I have to make the copies.”

“Owen?” Rose says with a frown. “Owen what’s wrong with you?”

He ignores her questions and continues, so instead she grabs one of the copies and looks it over. _Now_ she knows who’s behind this, and whose going to bloody well fix it too. She stalks towards the unclassified bins and glares at the Master whose head was currently stuck in a bin while he fishes out something at the very bottom.  “What did you do to Owen?”

“Who?” He says as he pulls his head out to look at her. “Oh yes,” he says as if he’d suddenly just remembered, “You’re friend…don’t worry I’ve done no _lasting_ damage.”

“Fix it,” Rose demands, “ _Now_.”

“You have to admit,” the Master tells her as he walks with her over to where Owen is currently standing. “He’s far more productive this way.”

“Just fix it.” Rose glares at him. “Whatever you did to him…just fix it now.”

“Owen,” the Master says as he catches Owen’s face between his palms. “Look at me…that’s right….look at me…now then, you’re going to go back to being an unproductive little sod and stop making copies for me alright?”

“Alright,” he says almost dreamily and blinks before abruptly jerking away from the Master’s grip. “What the hell are you doing…how did I get over here?”

“Don’t worry about it,” Rose tells him reassuringly, “just go back to your desk Owen, everything’s alright now.”

Work goes back to normal, although Rose must keep an eye on the Master now. She didn’t know he could hypnotize people, though when she thinks about how psychic his people are it doesn’t really surprise her that he can. Eventually the Master gets bored and she finds him drumming aimlessly on her desk and jabbering away about a device that can change the gravity of the room in six seconds that he found at the bottom of one of the unclassified bins. When he thinks she’s not paying the least bit of attention to him he turns it on and the next thing she knows she’s floating towards the ceiling of her office and Tosh and Owen are yelling at the Master to turn it off.

“You’re _not_ getting out of this!” Rose grounds out as they hover across from each other in her office, suspended and weightless. “No matter how much you try to annoy me!”

“I warned you not to play this game with me Rose Tyler,” he says with a wicked grin. “I’m rather good at it.”

“How the hell could the Doctor have _ever_ thought to just keep you in the TARDIS?” Rose fumes aloud.

“Oh believe me,” he tells her pointedly, “I would have endeavored to drive him crazy as well.”

“You’re like a three year old in a glassware shop!” Rose says as she grabs the device and unfortunately upon ripping it from his hands it somehow narrows the area to which gravity is affected, and suddenly she is shoved into him and he into the wall behind them. She is very aware of the fact that she is pressed just a little to intimately against him, her face crushed against the pressed white linen of his shirt and her legs tangled against his thighs. She struggles to speak but the gravity in the room has become so heavy that she’s crushed against him.

“Look what you’ve done!” he hisses irritably as he struggles to grab at the device currently floating somewhere above their heads. It’s just out of reach, and when both of them struggle to shift around so he can reach it, it only makes it worse.

“What _I_ did?” Rose snarls into his chest, “ _you’re_ the one who turned the damn thing on to start with!”

“Just...a little further,” the Master grumbles, “I’ve almost got it!”

“ _Hey!_ ” Rose says as she shoves his hand away from her chest. “Watch where you’re grabbing!”

“Believe me I wasn’t trying to feel you up,” he hisses back angrily, “I’m just trying to grab that bloody device so we can get out of this mess!”

“I’ve got it!” Owen says as he crawls along the ceiling, over the doorway and across her office towards the device. His body’s pressed flat against the roof but he just narrowly manages to reach it “so how do I turn it off now?”

“Red button,” the Master tells him, “but don’t turn it off---…”

“ _Shit._ ” Rose says as Owen hits the button and they all topple to the ground.

“Get…off…me…” Rose grumbles under the Master’s right shoulder. His left thigh was pressed between her legs and his chest was pressed down against hers. It wasn’t even remotely comfortable and Roses mind didn’t wander even in the slightest at that point because all she wanted to do was lock him up in a detainment cell so that he couldn’t do any more damage.

“Gladly,” he says with a grunt as he climbs to his feet. Rose sits up and glances back at Owen who stumbles to his feet and sways a little, looking around at the mess he just made of Rose’s office when his arm hit the paper tray on the corner of her desk and sent it all flying up into the air.

“Sorry,” Owen says sheepishly, “I was a little hasty.”

“You think?” Rose growls and starts to pick up the papers scattered from one end of her office to the other. The Master turns to leave but she stops him. “You’re helping me pick up this mess.”

“Let me,” Owen cuts in before the Master can respond, “I knocked the tray over.”

“Good,” the Master scowls at him and stalks off back to the little refuge he made out of unclassified bins and filing cabinets towards the back of the room.

                                                       

* * *

 

               When lunch time rolls around Owen and Tosh head down to the Torchwood cafeteria while Rose stays behind to finish cleaning up her office. The Master is waiting for her when she walks out of her office to go get lunch, wielding the offending device from earlier in his left hand.

“Keep that thing away from me.” Rose says pointedly as he falls into stride beside her towards the elevator.

“Can I keep it?” he asks, “I could use this in the TARDIS; it would work better than a ladder.”

“You can change the gravity inside the TARDIS.” Rose points out.

“Only while in _space,_ ” he tells her, “not on Earth.”

“Just as long as you keep that thing out of the house,” Rose says, “If it went off in the house my Mum would go completely mad.”

“You’re Mum,” he sighs. “How can you live with her?”

“I wasn’t for a while,” Rose admits, “I sold my apartment and moved back in with her about four years ago.”

“And you never tried to move back out again?” He asks skeptically, “you never wanted to get another apartment?”

“It was too quiet,” Rose says softly, a hint of sorrow in her voice before she changes the subject, “you hungry?”

“A little,” he says, “and you’re going to buy me lunch?”

“Let me guess,” she steps into the lift with him and then presses the button for the Lobby floor. “You haven’t any money?”

“I’ve got plenty,” he tells her, “or I did.”

“Which means you haven’t any now?” Rose says with a little smile as they step out of the lift and head for her car outside.

“Afraid not,” he admits as they get into her car. She drives them down to the wharf, her favorite place to eat lunch. She doesn’t care much for the cafeteria anymore, it had to many memories of the Doctor who wasn’t marveling at the taste of the jelly donuts Tosh brought in one morning for breakfast, or the day a carnivorous alien jumped out of a soup pot and tried to eat Owen….

Too many memories.

“I guess I’m buying you lunch,” Rose tells him as they reach her favorite café and find a table. Discussion is minimal, Rose finds that having conversations with him tend to lead either to a debate about something or an argument. The problem was that neither one would give in nor compromise, both just came at each other head on and that always led to problems. Rose was hyper and cheerful while the Master was calm and restrained (sometimes.)

“Where do you want to go?” he says to break the silence between them, “when I get the TARDIS fixed? I did say I would give you a lift somewhere.”

Rose thinks on this for a while before answering, “It’s a brand-new universe out there,” Rose tells him, “find me somewhere tropical and lovely…. transportation between planets…. somewhere I can get a job and make money if I need to…”

“So you just want to leave everything behind and run off into the universe? Never look back?” He says and he’s almost scowling at the thought.

“No,” Rose says quietly, “I just need to get away for a while…travel the universe a bit and get my barring’s, see what there is to see before I come home again.”

“And what of Tosh and Owen?” He questions, “what about them? Do you honestly think they’ll manage here without you?”

“When I leave I’ll be giving Tosh my job,” Rose admits, “she’s better at everything then me anyways…she always has a plan for everything…she’s a genius with machinery….Tosh is just….she’s really grand.”

“A little on the insecure side,” he says as he calculates the observations he’s made of her little band of misfits, “neurotic…perfectionist….polite and sweet but you can tell she wants to say something but holds it in instead…she’s brave when she has to be but she doesn’t like confrontation…Rose Tyler she _cannot_ do your job and she probably wouldn’t want it.”

“She’s also perceptive, compassionate, honest, and smart. Those qualities are needed in Torchwood…she’d do very well I think,” she takes a bite of chicken and waits for his remark.

“You would just _leave_ everyone?” He frowns at her. “Just…. _go_ ….abandon it all?”

“I’m not abandoning everything,” Rose argues, “I just….I’m restless….I’m just so…. _I can’t just sit here_ for the rest of my life eating a bloody chicken salad every single afternoon, go to work five days a week and do paperwork and chase the bloody weevils back into their part of the sewers. I can’t just get up every morning and eat breakfast and watch TV and ignore the universe when it’s practically holding a neon sign over its head screaming _look at me_!”

He is silent so long she thinks he’s angry with her until he says, “You and the Doctor,” he tells her quietly, “are far more alike than you know. He once felt the same way, said _almost_ the very same thing to me over a thousand years ago when we were boys on Gallifrey…and now look where he is…haven’t you learned anything?” He scowls at her. “He lost his _home_ …his family….everything…because he wanted to go off and explore the universe….run away from his responsibilities.”

“I’m not running away from _anything,_ ” Rose glares at him.

“The hell you aren’t,” He snaps and leans in closer, his voice dropping to a hiss. “You haven’t stopped running since the moment the Doctor locked you away in this universe!”

“He didn’t lock me away here.” Rose sneers. “He didn’t have a choice!”

“Ha!” he scoffs at her. “Rose Tyler…if the Doctor really wanted to keep you at his side nothing would have stopped him from getting to you. Did you _honestly_ believe that rubbish about him being unable to reach you?”

“Then how do you propose he get here?” Rose presses, “How would _you_ have done it?”

“Someone would need to be on both sides in order to cross,” he explains “meaning I would need to contact the TARDIS in the other universe and get them to open that side….then I could cross through to the other universe.”

“So theoretically you could give me a lift to the other universe,” Rose trails off thoughtfully.

“I could,” he says hesitantly, “but I’m not sure the Doctor would be so keen to help me.”

“Oh,” Rose says quietly though she appears thoughtful rather than sad.

“Besides that,” he scowls at her, “I wouldn’t want to speak with him anyways…if he knew I was here he’d want me to come along and I’d really rather _not_.”

“So you just want to stay here then?”  Rose says after a while, pushing the plate of food away from her as her appetite slowly wans.

“Yes,” he tells her pointedly, “Why go back to that other universe when I can stay here and be free of his meddling for good?”

“You can’t _possibly_ hate him that much,” Rose scowls. “He isn’t as bad as all that.”

“I have every reason to hate him Rose Tyler though I don’t,” he says as he points his fork at her. “And after everything he’s done to _you_ , you should hate him too—though you don’t.”

“He’s done me no harm,” Rose says softly, “or at least none of it was intentional.”

“Still,” he presses on, “everyone he meets either ends up worse off than they were or trapped in an entirely different universe.”

“Rubbish,” Rose brushes him off lightly.

“Martha Jones,” he argues, “Tegan Jovanka, Nyssa of Traken, Adric…. Donna Noble.”

“They aren’t any worse off,” Rose counters, “Martha’s a doctor now from what I recall…Donna’s perfectly happy…she got married.” Rose frowns at a memory as speaks, a moment when the Doctor who wasn’t recalled those things to her because the original knew them. It was only when the gap between universes was still open, back when he could still hear his doppelgangers thoughts in flashes and random moments.

“And what of the others?” he says casually, “or perhaps you never met them?”

“No,” Rose says, “who are they?”

“Just a few who befell unfortunate events and lost things dear to them because of the Doctor’s meddling,” he says lightly.

“Why do I get the feeling you had something to do with that meddling?” Rose narrows her eyes at him.

“I did,” he says as he pops a piece of pineapple in his mouth, “I stole Nyssa’s Dad’s body and used it to resurrect myself. Adric was a robot I used to try and destroy the Doctor…I kidnapped him once. And Tegan… _oh_ ….” He says almost wistfully with a hint of malice in his voice, “ _Tegan Jovanka_ ….”

“Why are you telling me this?” Rose says in the middle of his little trip down memory lane, irritation working its way into her voice.

“Tegan Jovanka…I killed her aunt,” he says as if he hadn’t heard her, “I really hope you know who you’re blackmailing Rose Tyler.”

“And again,” Rose rolls her eyes, “were back to you sulking because you have to help.”

“I’m not _sulking_ ,” he scowls at her. “I’m making a point…why would you want a mad man helping you anyways?”

“You’re not mad anymore,” Rose points out, “you’ve gotten better.”

“How do you know?” He argues, “how do you know I’m not plotting against you right now?”

Rose leans in closer, her voice dropping to a whisper, “because if you are you’ll never see the inside of the TARDIS again.”

He looks mildly aghast at her statement and then replies, “not the particular string I would have pulled Rose Tyler….wouldn’t you say that, considering the particularities of said TARDIS….it is a requirement of us both that I continue making repairs on her? Surely you can find a better threat than that?”

“I could dig out that lovely jumpsuit of yours,” Rose offers with a sassy smirk.

“Not good enough,” He says in a singsong voice, “you like to ogle me _far_ too much in my suit…it would be a shame to force me back into that awful jumpsuit.”

“I do _not_ ogle you,” Rose splutters indignantly.

“Please,” he says sassily, “don’t mock my intelligence…I can _smell_ your pheromones.”

“I can’t bloody well control that!” Rose practically shouts and flushes pink when people turn to stare at the two of them. “I can’t control that,” she hisses in a softer voice, “and what makes you think I’m releasing pheromones for _you_?”

“Oh,” he says cockily, “so your smothering me in hormones because you have a thing for that frog faced bloke _Owen_?”

“No.” Rose blinks at him. “I do not have a thing for Owen.”

“My point _exactly_ ,” he says as he finishes up his tea.

“I do _not_ have a thing for you either,” Rose adds upon seeing the smug look on his face.

“Then you might want to see a doctor.” He tells her as Rose pays the bill. “I think you may have an imbalance in hormones.”

“Shut it,” Rose scowls at him as they stand and head for her car.

                                                     

* * *

 

 

“You’re back early,” Tosh smiles as Rose and the Master enter the building.

“Another second of domesticity and I thought I might have burst,” the Master says snidely in response.

“You’re just….layers and layers of sarcasm aren’t you?” Rose scowls as she heads towards her office. “You’re just incapable of being happy.”

“That’s not true.” he says as he drops down onto a stool and pulls another bin out. “I just don’t find this particular setting very pleasing.”

“ _Nothing_ pleases you,” Rose says pointedly.

“Oh I don’t know about that,” he grins wickedly at her.

“Oh why don’t you two just _kiss_ already?” Owen drawls sarcastically.

“Don’t be disgusting,” the Master says to him with a look of distaste on his face, “we’re not even the same _species_.”

“You look like us,” Owen argues, “which means you’ve still got the same needs as any man.”

“Unlike your species,” the Master scowls, “I am fully capable of controlling my baser needs.”

“Lucky you,” Owen says offhandedly as he looks over a file, “but most men would call that self-control.”

“It’s not self-control,” the Master says with a sassy smirk as he rubs his evolutionary prowess in Owen’s face, “It’s called _evolution_. I’m fully capable of controlling all my bodily functions unlike the males of your primitive species.”

“Alright,” Rose cuts in, “If you’re both done talking about whose got more testosterone I could use some help getting the paperwork done.”

“Oh there’s no question of who’s got more testosterone,” the Master quips and Rose smacks him on the head with a file she has in her hands, glaring at him pointedly.

“You just think you’re so wonderful don’t you?” Owen snaps, “you think you’re just the top of the food chain.”

“I _am_ the top of the food chain,” the master retorts, enjoying the way he can fluster Owen, “My species was around thousands of years before yours.”

“Stop it!” Rose says as she jumps between them before Owen can get a swing in. “Both of you!”

“Did I miss something?” Ianto says as he walks in, noting the tension in the room.

“Ianto,” Rose says as she eyes Owen carefully, “would you mind helping Owen downtown with the CCTV camera footage? It seems that some of the footage has been a bit scrambled.”

“Of course,” Ianto says despite Owen’s withering look in Roses direction, “I’ll meet you downstairs?”

“Yeah,” Owen says as he turns his glare from Rose to the Master before finally turning to look at Ianto, “on my way.”

                                                         

* * *

 

 

               The day is uneventful after that, although the team had to deal with their fair share of the usual drama.  Rose and the Master went to Cardiff to find a man who was selling alien fruit in his shop, some of it being particularly poisonous to humans. He wasn’t aware of it of course, had told Rose just that while the Master confiscated all of the harmful fruit.

               However the fun really began when Rose and the Master headed back to her house for the evening. The Master was minding his own business inside the TARDIS console room while Rose unhappily had the task of mucking out the pool filters because the TARDIS maintenance system was offline until the Master could repair a couple of burnt out electrical panels. She’d switched the TV on, a wide flat screen television mounted on the far war across from her.

_We’re joined now by metrologist Chris Clover….Chris?_

_Thank you Rebecca…Good evening, I’m Chris Clover and I’m here in the town of Norwich where an unusual event has taken place. Plastic people ladies and gentlemen, a local resident has discovered her boyfriend was actually a plastic replica. It is unclear how such a thing is possible, government officials are on the scene as we speak…._

_“_ Freeze screen,” Rose says quickly, eyeing the image carefully. Something had caught her eye, something so out of place she wasn’t sure she’d even really seen it at all. Then as she stepped closer and looked over the image again she was certain.

“Oi!” she says into the relay speaker that is connected to the console room next to the door, “get down here. You’ve got some explaining to do.”

“What?” crackles the voice of the Master in reply, “why?”

“Get down here now,” Rose growls into the speaker, “You were _seen_ you idiot!”

He arrives twenty minutes later covered in a purple viscous looking fluid and glaring at her irritably. “Whatever could be so important I had to drop what I was doing and come down here?”

“You’re on TV.” Rose says as she motions towards the screen. “I wonder how that happened.”

“What?” he says as she squints at the TV screen image. “That’s not _me_.”

“Certainly looks like you.” Rose scowls at him. “Blond hair…black suit….suspicious look about him.”

“I’m telling you,” he growls at her angrily, “that’s _not_ me!”

“Then who is it then?” Rose snaps as she points at the image on the screen, “tell me who the hell that is! If it’s not you then how the _hell_ are you on TV right now?”

“ _I don’t know_ ,” he snarls right in her face as they face each other down.

“How then?” Rose demands angrily, “what have you done? Why were you over there!?”

“I wasn’t!” he hisses menacingly, “I wasn’t there but I _am_ going to bloody well find out why they’ve got my face!”

Rose meets his hardened gaze with one of her own; the two standing as still as statues while Rose debates his words. Finally she answers him, her voice as level and as calm as she can make it despite the anger threatening to boil over in her veins, “Were in an alternate universe….there could be another bloke running around with your face for all we know. Though I recall the Doctor mentioning it was impossible…there are no alternate versions of you or him.”

“True,” he agrees with a nod, “However clearly someone else has my face and their running about with it.”

“We need to find this person right now,” Rose frowns at the TV screen.

“Agreed,” he turns on heel and walks back to the console room, calling after him as he goes, “and I expect a full apology from you when we find him Rose Tyler.”

                                                     

* * *

 

               They land in an alleyway in Norwich; the TARDIS humming a little and then settling as she touches down.  The Master had reassured her TARDIS could now technically fly, however she wasn’t vortex ready.

To be honest he wouldn’t even risk taking her into space either.

It was a bit excessive, using the TARDIS Rose thinks. However she could see the cold fury burning behind his eyes and thinks he’s doing this because he isn’t fond of the idea of somebody running around with his face.  It worried Rose a little though, using the TARDIS. He’d said before they left he could use her sparingly, but not for big trips or time travel. 

               Now in Norwich the two of them step out of the TARDIS and rain is drizzling down atop their heads. They walk side by side while the Master squints at the surrounding area, as if reaching out in search of something. The Doctor had once told her he could sense others of his kind, and she wondered if the Master was attempting to do just that. When they walk a ways she breaks the silence, her voice quiet and thoughtful, “it was Autons I think.”

“Probably,” he agrees, “but my doppelganger was no Auton.”

“Tosh said she and Owen flew out here earlier….Pete was on scene too, he said they were replacing the entire village with Auton replicas. Why do you suppose they were doing that?”

“Invasion,” the Master suggests offhandedly, “ _bored_ …who knows?”

“It’s not another Time Lord is it?” Rose asks when she sees the look of defeat crossing his face.

“No,” he says, “not another Time Lord.”

They walk to the place where Rose saw his doppelganger on TV and look around. What Rose finds is a whole lot of _nothing_ , what the Master finds on the other hand is an echo.

“An echo?” Rose says as she watches him run a finger over a brick wall of a building, bringing that same finger to his nose and taking a whiff.

“Yes,” he says thoughtfully, “an echo….it felt….familiar….and yet….and yet…” he trails off distantly and Rose watches him fall silent and drop down on a black iron bench welded to the cement sidewalk nearby.

“So maybe it is an alternate version of you?” Rose suggests quietly, “maybe you and the Doctor were wrong?”

“No,” he says, “I’m not _wrong_. I know very well it’s impossible.”

“But Gallifrey…” Rose protests but he cuts her off abruptly.

“Is still out there,” he argues, “still upholding the barriers we implemented to prevent any alternate versions of myself or the Doctor or any other Time Lord.”

“Then how do you explain--…” she trails off as he stands and crosses the street, his eyes fixated on a point in the distance.

“Where are you going?” Rose says as she hurries after him.

“Do you smell that?” he says softly, looking perfectly bewildered, “it smells like…like…. _time_ ….and even more so…it smells like… _me_.”

“We’ll I’m not in the habit of sniffing you on my down time so no, I do not know what you smell like,” Rose replies and watches him inhale deeply, trailing after him as he strides down the street around the corner.

“It’s bizarre,” he says in confusion, “smells like me…but…not…just a little off really….although people who don’t know me as well might not notice…only I know what I really smell like I suppose.”

“So what does that mean?” Rose asks, watching him turn in a full circle as he searches the surrounding area.

“It means I was here,” he says and frowns as soon as the words are out of his mouth. “Which should be impossible.”

“So….you and the Doctor have this thing where you use the word _impossible_ …and then it turns out things aren’t as impossible as you first thought…it’s just a suggestion but you should probably stop using that word.”

“Oh I see,” he says as he watches the town clean up the mess the Auton’s had made, “I see what’s going on here…it’s a _diversion_ ….he was using the Autons as a means of distraction so he can go get that which is of real importance.”

“Like?” Rose says, eyeing a broken window where a manikin hangs lifeless from a shelf. It was far too reminiscent of her first encounter with the Autons.

“Ha!” he laughs and it surprises her, she watches the manic look in his eyes as he turns on the spot once more, “it’s practically a _classic_! There’s just one little problem…”

“What?” Rose says as she takes a step back from the overactive Time Lord.

He spins on heel and stops in front of her, his face inches from hers and his expression hard and serious. “ _I_ didn’t do this. This is too perfect…it’s all too…. _perfect_. I hate to be the first to admit it but when have _any_ of my plans ever gone off without a hitch?”

“You’re actually admitting that?” Rose says skeptically, her lips curved in a half-smile.

“Never to be repeated again Rose Tyler,” he says as he looks at her.

“Alright,” Rose says as she glances around the town, “if you were here…being you….and you were using the Auton’s as a distraction, where would you go next?”

He ponders this a moment before he answers, “Well I’d need to know what it was I came here to steal….and from there I could decide where to go next.”

“But you’re not entirely sure it’s _you_ doing the stealing right?” Rose says as she struggles to follow his rapidly changing pace of thought.

“Not at all,” he agrees with a nod. “I haven’t the foggiest clue who’s running about pretending to be me….or if it’s just someone who has my face.”

“Well,” Rose begins thoughtfully, “we need to find whoever’s doing this _now_ …if he’s got your face there’s no telling what kind damage he could cause.”

                                     

* * *

 

 

               She finds him later that evening in the library, staring intently into the flames of the hearth he sat before. She drops down into a seat beside him and watches him mull over the events of the day. He looks older like this, and for the first time in a long while she can see his true age glimmering in his dark eyes.  

“It really bothers you that there might be an alternate version of you here doesn’t it?” Rose says softly, watches his fingers curl into the arms of the chair he sits in.

“Wouldn’t you?” he scowls at her. “Wouldn’t it bother you that there was another version of you here?”

“There was,” Rose admits as he turns to look at her fully, “She was a dog named Rose.”

He stares at her flatly and for a moment she thinks he’s just going to go back to ignoring before he starts to laugh, full bodied and loud. Rose smacks him on the arm; it reminds her to much of the Doctor laughing at her when he discovered the very same fact.

“I’m sorry,” he says as he tries to catch his breath, “but that’s just too funny.”

“Yes well,” Rose says as she tries to salvage what was left of her dignity, “Mirror universe…nothing’s exact.”

“But a dog?” he snickers as he looks at her, “your alternate self is a _dog_?”

“No,” Rose scowls darkly, “I don’t think the dog actually counted….I just don’t have an alternate version of me in this universe.”

“Which explains why you’re here,” he nods seriously as he turns to look into the fire again, “time lines are fickle like that.”

“So I’m meant to be here,” Rose says quietly, “I was meant to come to this universe.”

“Yes,” the Master says tentatively, “I think you were.”

“Well that’s just shit,” Rose frowns into the fire.

“The universe never gives us what we want Rose Tyler,” he says as he turns towards a table beside his chair and pours himself a drink, “she gives us only what we need.”

“We’ll apparently I didn’t need the Doctor then,” Rose says bitterly, her gaze turned cold.

“You don’t,” he says quietly, looking at her purposefully, “you’ve made it this far without him…you think you need him but you _don’t_.”

“He was my best friend,” she scowls into the flames, “and I would have done anything for him…risked…anything for him. I just don’t understand why the universe felt that I should be separated from him.”

“Who knows,” the Master sighs. “Granted I’ll never understand the attachment you little apes have with him. He always had that weird affection for your species.”

“You…really suck at making people feel better,” Rose says after a while, trying to suppress a smile at the way he fumbles over his words.

“I’m not trying to make you _feel better_ ,” he says darkly, “I’m telling you the cold hard truth about the universe. It isn’t fair…it isn’t nice…and to use a human aphorism… _shit happens_.”

“You know,” Rose says in response and he’s fully expecting her to reprimand his unfiltered honesty, “you would have done the human race a lot of good had you decided to travel with us. Had you chosen to be at peace with us instead of trying to destroy us. Honesty like that…. the Doctor never gave me that…at least not in large doses. Oh sure, he tried to be honest with me but I was nineteen and as earnest and loyal as a puppy. He didn’t want to hurt my feelings.”

“Well brace yourself Rose Tyler,” he says pointedly, “because I won’t hold back.”

“Good thing too,” Rose says, “I would hate it if you got all mushy on me.”

“We need to sort out this doppelganger business,” he says to change the subject, clapping his hands together purposefully, “the sooner I settle this mess the happier I’ll be.”

 

                                                 

* * *

 

 

         As it turns out, sorting it was harder then it looked. There wasn’t a single trace of his doppelganger anywhere, not even on the internet. Rose thought perhaps if it were just a mirrored version of him, there’d be something about him online, but she found nothing. “Maybe,” Rose says after hours of searching, “maybe it was some kind of creature who could look like you…change shape maybe?”

“Possible,” he frowns, “I’ve never met one who could mimic my scent though.”

“Is that difficult then, mimicking your scent?” Rose asks, suppressing a smile.

“Yes,” he sneers at her, seeing right through her façade, “and no I suppose. You can’t exactly mimic the scent of _time_ unless you’ve actually travelled through time. Mimicking my scent as a species perhaps…but the smell of time is distinctive.”

“So he’s been time-travelling,” Rose concludes, “vortex manipulator?”

“Possibly,” the Master replies. They sit together around the console while he fiddles with her laptop, rummaging through the Torchwood databanks. “If he’s got a manipulator we may not need to worry about fixing up the TARDIS to get off this planet—we can just use the manipulator to go and get what we need.”

“And how do you propose we go and get said manipulator?” Rose quirks a brow at him. “If such a manipulator does in fact exist?”

“Simple, Rose Tyler,” he says pointedly, “I’m going to steal it from him—and you’re going to help me.”

“Mmm,” Rose ponders aloud, “No.”

“ _No_?” He quirks a brow. “You _do_ want to get off this planet, don’t you?”

“Yes,” she tells him, “but we can’t just go and steal his manipulator from him—if it even exists at all—that’s just rude. Furthermore, we don’t know what he’s doing with it or why he has it.”

He rolls his eyes and stands, running his hands through his hair irritably, “Why must you be so stubborn hmm?” He circles the console as he watches her, “he has what we need—why not just _take_ it?”

“Because it’s wrong,” Rose says flatly, “I’m not stealing it from him just because we need it…I mean…” she frowns at him and looks away. He has these moments where he reminds her to much of the Valeyard. “Look…if he’s up to no good—let’s take it… but If he’s a decent bloke and he’s minding his own business…”

“Fair enough,” he agrees, “but I’ll bet you a quid he’s up to no good.”

“Why’s that then?” Rose quirks a brow at him curiously.

“Because I know the look of somebody who’s up to no good,” he tells her mischievously as he turns down the hall towards the TARDIS kitchen, “I wear it often.”

 

                                               

* * *

 

 

 

               They resort to using the TARDIS, tracking any temporal shifts caused by vortex manipulators. They wait patiently, hoping for so much as the tiniest blip on the monitor. Rose shifts uncomfortably in the pilot seat while the Master adjusts one of the levers on the console.

“My Dad’s fundraiser’s this evening,” Rose sighs heavily, “I almost want that bloody monitor to go off—means I could use work as an excuse to get out of it.”

“Why go at all if you hate it? I don’t see the point of enduring the boredom,” he tells her as he sets the wrench in he holds aside and wipes off his hands. “Should make take off easier now.”

“Yeah,” Rose muses aloud, recalling the last time he tried to take off in the TARDIS and the whole lever broke off in his hand. He wasn’t pleased at all—he wanted to get her vortex ready but she was being stubbornly impossible about the whole thing (or so he claims.)

“Wanna go for a spin?” he asks, darting around the console.

“What, _now_?” Rose raises her eyebrows, “can she fly?”

“She can do more than that—I hope,” he adds as an afterthought, “she wasn’t ready the other day but I _think_ she’s ready now.”

“So we could leg it for another planet and accidently come back after the party?” Rose beams at him, “you know…once we become part of the timeline and all...”

He grins as he stares at the console, preparing for take-off, “See I knew you were a clever little ape—all you needed was some motivation and encouragement.”

“ _Again_ with the ape comments—really?” Rose asks as she stands, “Parking brake.”

“I _know_ ,” he scowls at her and reaches down to release the lever, “I’m not the Doctor you know—I do remember those sorts of things.”

“Would we be able to go off planet?” Rose asks hopefully.

“Not quite yet,” the Master tells her, “the Valeyard did a number on her—I still haven’t quite sorted out what he was trying to do. She’s got enough power to make it to the vortex, but we’ll have to stay on Earth.”

“You know what this means don’t you?” Rose grins at him.

“That we can go back in time to the moment that idiot stole my face and went running about with Autons? —Oh yes,” he tells her as he pushes the lever forward and the rotor lights up, the hum of the TARDIS taking off ringing in her ears.

“We can find out what he was doing,” Rose says almost excitedly, bouncing on the balls of her feet.

“Exactly,” he tells her, his eyes on the monitor as he steers through the vortex.

 

                       

* * *

 

 

               When they land, he is the first to get out. Rose was giddy to be first but he insisted, and by the determined look on his face she opted not to get in his way. It bothered him that somebody else had his face, and Rose supposes it would probably bother her too.

“We’ve landed just before the attack starts,” he tells her quietly, pulling her along by the elbow and into an alley. “I don’t want anyone seeing the TARDIS, we’ll leave her across the street where I parked her.” They wait in the shadows, watching the Autons spring to life around them.

“I’m familiar with Autons,” Rose tells him quietly, “My ex-boyfriend got eaten by a trash can once.”

“ _Really_?” The Master asks, quirking a brow at her.

“Yeah,” she tells him with a nod as her gaze shifts along the street before them, “That was the first time I ever met the Doctor.”

His attention shifts from her words to the street as well and he frowns, watching what takes place, “We need to stay out of sight—that’s important. You and I have already seen all this on TV, and we weren’t in it.”

“Well _you_ were…” Rose trails off, “You don’t suppose….”

“That I might have been smelling myself and it led to this little adventure of ours into the past—which is why I was seen on TV at all?” He frowns at her and looks away—Rose could almost swear he’s a little embarrassed. “It has occurred to me.”

“So we went back in time to find the bloke impersonating you and it just happened to be _you_?” Rose asks him flatly.

“Possibly,” he replies without meeting her gaze.

“Then I suppose you might want to get into position,” Rose tells him, motioning to the cameras down the street, “It’ll be a paradox if you’re not caught on camera. The whole bloody reason we’re here is because I saw you on TV.”

He’s stiff and silent in front of her as she peers around his shoulder to watch the chaos on the streets. Occasionally and Auton flings itself by but then dodge it, Rose nearly being smothered by his back as he presses them further into the alleyway and nearer to the wall. “I can’t breathe!” she hisses irritably, prodding him in the ribs, “and your standing on my foot!”

“Well _excuse me_ for saving your ridiculous little ape life,” he scowls and turns to face her, “would you rather me turn this way?”

Rose blinks up at him, suddenly aware of how tall he is. He practically towers over her, and it’s slightly awkward. She swallows thickly, blinking up at him. She doesn’t want to appear a coward, but it’s rather intimate this way. “No…” She looks away towards the street, “the other way’s fine.”

“That’s what I thought,” he scowls at her and turns away, “That’s my cue.” He darts forward into the street and Rose watches him go. He walks across the street and hovers in the background, watching the scene before him. It’s just how she remembers seeing him on TV too.

“Bloody well knew it didn’t I,” Rose mutters to herself, “He _was_ caught on TV.” She rolls her eyes and leans back against the alley wall, waiting for him to return.  Her eyes shift towards the street until something catches her eye, and she realizes she’s being watched. “What the…” she pushes away from the wall, straightens and stares at the man across the street. “Hold on…” she isn’t sure what to make of it. He’s just watching her, and when she checks to see where Harry is, he’s in the same place.

There were two of him.

“Oi,” she calls, “you!” She can’t run after him as he turns to walk away, if she does she’ll be caught on tape too and that didn’t happen before.

“Who are you shouting at?” The Master asks as he steps back into the alley, crowding Rose away from the street.

“You!” she blurts out, pointing towards the alley across the street from where they stand, “I saw _you_!”

“Oh not again,” he grouses and turns to look where she’s pointing, “if that was me I’ll have to come back again and repeat whatever it is you saw me do. Your creating paradoxes by telling me all this you know.”

“I…but that wasn’t…” she blinks up at him, “I mean it was you—but it wasn’t. I don’t think it was…he was just staring at me---…”

“Stop,” The Master says, covering her lips with his index finger, “not another word Rose Tyler. Your creating paradoxes by telling me all this because if I don’t get it exactly right everything changes. Do me a favor—if you see me, keep your mouth shut about it. If I was there then I was there for a reason. Granted—I may have to go back _again_ and go stand over there just to appease your pension for paradox creation, not to mention I’ll be _crossing my own timeline_.”

“Well,” Rose says after a pause as they walk back towards the TARDIS, “at least we’ll be late for the fundraiser.”

 

                                

* * *

 

 

 

True to her word, Rose kept her mouth shut if she saw him anywhere he ought not to be. Though she hasn’t seen him yet, he did go back—again—and stand across the street to stare at a past version of her. It was just a safety precaution in case there wasn’t a double of him running about and him popping up everywhere was just Rose creating random paradoxes.

She’s still scolding herself over that—she knows better. Didn’t she once get the Doctor _eaten_ because she saved her Dad once? Didn’t she witness firsthand the dangers of paradoxes?

She watches him as he maneuvers around the console, slowly pressing down on the lever that shuts off the engines. Once the parking break is set he waves her off, as if telling her it was alright to go outside. He shrugs off his overcoat and tosses it on the pilot’s seat, setting to work on something or other that he has yet to finish tinkering with.

He’s always improving something on the TARDIS, Rose notices. It’s probably a good thing too, he was very good with the technical stuff. She wedges open the door and steps out into the sunset of another day gone by, and her eyes widen. “ _Oh no_.” She turns to dart back inside but her Mum’s voice stops her.

“ _Rose_!” Jackie Tyler calls from the patio door, “Bloody hell, finally! Where have you been? The party starts in an hour!”

Rose glowers at the Master and he grins sheepishly at her before saying, “Already part of the timeline.”

“One brings me back too _late_ and one brings me back too _early_ ,” Rose mutters under her breath and turns to face her Mum, forcing a half-smile to curve her lips, “Hey Mum! Sorry we’re late…. got caught up with Torchwood business.”

 

                                     

* * *

 

 

 

                              Rose glowers at the mirror in her bedroom. Her blond hair is swept up into as neat up-do, her black dress is pressed and clean, her heels are polished and Rose nods approvingly before turning away. She doesn’t want to go; she hates these fundraisers. After carefully clasping a delicate silver necklace around her throat and dabbing a bit of perfume on each wrist and behind both ears, she starts for her bedroom door. She can already hear her Mum downstairs, greeting guests. The music is soft and lulling, light jazz and a bit of classical mixed together. People laugh and glasses clink together and Pete’s telling stories about work.

               As she heads downstairs she snatches a flute of chardonnay off a tray being carried around by a caterer and sips at it lightly. She was Rose Tyler, Pete Tyler’s daughter and she was expected to join in. She was expected to smile and make light conversation, she was expected to endorse Pete’s company. What she _actually_ does is hide in the kitchen for an hour with the food and watch people pass to and fro by the door.  She used to go to these things all the time with the Doctor who wasn’t. They used to snicker in the corner and he’d make her laugh with little comments he’d make about what people talked about. They’d steal food and wine from the kitchen and run off into the garden to eat it, staring at the stars above and hiding from the guests.

She watches people dance and laugh and she is reminded of when they used to dance in the garden. She is reminded of why she hates fundraisers all over again. There were too many memories surrounding these events. When she was younger she felt posh getting to attend them, and they were even more fun because she had him with her.

“Rose Tyler,” his voice interrupts her thoughts and she has to blink a few times to register whose speaking to her.

“You shouldn’t be in here,” Rose hisses, her eyes widening as she darts from the kitchen to the hallway where he hovers in the shadows. It takes her a second to realize he’s staring at her, “What?”

“You’re wearing a dress,” he says, eyebrows raised.

“I am,” Rose tells him, “I’m a girl you know—we do that sometimes.”

“I see,” The Master clears his throat, “you look bored.”

“I’m about to go mad I tell you,” Rose crosses her arms, watches the crowd just beyond the hallway, “I wouldn’t object if you decided to put on your _bad guy_ face right now. By all means—pull out that gravity device…blow up the ice sculpture… _unleash_ the Toglafane…” Rose giggles at the last bit, recalling the story.

He glowers briefly at her before replying, “They were much more frightening then they sound I assure you.”

“I’m sure they were,” Rose smothers her giggles behind her hand, forcing herself to calm down.

“And anyhow, why blow up the sculpture? It’s rather elegant I think.” The Master replies, quirking a brow at her.

“It was just…oh never mind,” Rose waves him off.

“I could go get that gravity shifter if you really wanted---…” he starts but she cuts him off.

“No,” Rose laughs, “Mum’d kill both of us.”

“ _Not_ if she’s stuck to the ceiling,” he muses allowed with a little smile in the corner of his mouth. “Want to sneak outside instead?”

“True,” Rose nods and follows him through the house towards the patio doors, “Fresh air sounds lovely.”

“Oh Rose!” a woman calls just as she and the Master were passing by, “Oh there you are! And you’ve brought your boyfriend—how lovely! I was always saying to Jackie _when’s that Rose going to go find herself a man Jackie?_ I told her you’d find one I did.”

“He’s not my boyfriend,” Rose blurts out, wide eyed.

“I’m not her boyfriend,” The Master says.

Both spoken simultaneously, both wore matching looks of disgust and bewilderment. The woman shifts her gaze between them for a moment before saying, “Oh I see.”

“He’s just…he’s…” Rose stammers.

“A work colleague,” The Master supplies quickly.

“Yes,” Rose chimes in, “He’s from work—It was lovely seeing you Anna.” Rose loops her arm around his elbow and all but drags him away before Anna can continue or even reply.

“You humans and your reproductive---…” The Master mutters to her but Rose cuts him off quickly.

“Oh _shut up_ ,” Rose grouses as they step outside onto the patio, walking towards the garden.

“Rose,” Jackie calls from the patio door, fire in her eyes as she turns her gaze towards the Master, “Would you mind keeping your _boyfriend_ out here yeah?”

“Sorry,” Rose mouths to her Mum before she and the Master walk further into the garden.

 

                                       

* * *

 

 

              

“How does your Mother _always_ know?” The Master says as they walk towards the TARDIS.

“You know,” Rose says aloud to him, “I’ve _never_ worked that out.” She pauses, eyeing the rose bushes with a careful eye. Her Mum planted these Roses for her, back before the Doctor who wasn’t came to this universe. It was her Mum’s attempt at cheering her up when she lost the Doctor. Blue roses—TARDIS blue even. They were beautiful, and they were only found in this universe.

“My Mum planted these for me when I first came here,” Rose says quietly, her eyes on the Roses, “I lost the Doctor—it was a bad place for me. I missed him…I was miserable here. I was bored normal life here; I couldn’t just go back to the way things used to be. So, Pete took me to Torchwood, got me a desk job. Slowly but surely I worked my way up through the ranks, made my way onto level four. I proved myself to them, proved I could handle it. That’s how I ended up director of the unclassified.”

“Rose,” The Master says but Rose isn’t listening, her eyes on the flowers before her.

“Took me ages to get that job I tell you,” Rose says, “I worked so hard for it. Then he came back here with me…thought it’d be grand. It was for a while too—then everything went to shit.”

“Rose,” The Master repeats, but this time his voice holds a hint of caution—and danger.

“What?” Rose frowns and turns to look at him.

“No!” he almost shouts and Rose widens her eyes at him in response, surprised by his outburst. “Rose, don’t look at me, look at it!” he tells her, pointing at something behind her. “Rose listen to me very, very carefully. Don’t take your eyes off it, _don’t even blink_.”

“What is it?” Rose looks in the direction he’s pointing and frowns, “That’s just a _statue_.”

“It’s a _weeping angel_ ,” he says pointedly, “It’s got a genetic lock on it—it can’t move while someone’s looking at it.”

“ _Ok_ ,” Rose says, staring at the statue as she backs away, “Um….”

“Careful,” he reaches for her, yanking her back over to his side, “We need to get to the TARDIS _now_.”

“A weeping angel?” Rose quirks a brow, her eyes still on the statue, “what _are_ they?”

“That’s complicated,” The Master replies, “Keep your eyes on it, don’t blink—don’t look away for even a second. I need to scan for others—if there’s more we’re in trouble.”

“What’s it doing in my backyard?” Rose calls as the Master searches.

“Probably looking for us—or it’s drawn to the TARDIS,” The Master replies evenly.

“Um,” Rose says aloud after a long silence. The statue in question was moving, even while she was staring at it. “Um…the statue’s still moving!”

“What?” He sounds almost indignant, “No it isn’t, it can’t have. It’s a _weeping angel_ , they’re _genetically locked_ …” he trails off as he stands beside her, watching the statue charge towards them. “Oh.”

“RUN!” Rose yells as she grabs his arm and yanks him back towards the TARDIS. He stumbles after her, his hand on her forearm and her hand on his. Rose sprints as quick as she can, the Master beside her. Then the sudden feeling of weightlessness, the world shifting beneath her feet nearly topples her over. When she hits the ground, her knees ache with the impact. The Master lands beside her, grunting as he straightens himself.

“What the bloody hell just happened!?” Rose says, and then frowns as her expression shifts from anger to confusion. She turns in a circle, staring at the empty field around her. “Where’s the _house_?”

The Master scowls, staring at the expanse of city in the distance. They stood in a field exactly where they’d been before, and yet it wasn’t. “Oh _bugger_."


	6. Angels In London Part Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own any of it or make any money from any of it, all of it belongs to those who created Doctor Who.

“Is that London?” Rose asks, staring at the city, “Why’s it so dark?”

“No electricity,” The Master continues to scowl, “I’m guessing were somewhere in the eighteen hundred’s.”

“How’d we get here?” Rose asks, frowning up at him.

“The weeping angel…if your caught they’ll displace you in time, feed off the energy from an interrupted timeline,” The Master explains, his scowl still getting deeper.

“You got caught, didn’t you?” Rose asks flatly, shifting her gaze to the city.

“Yes,” he hisses irritably, “no need to rub it in Rose Tyler.”

“Sorry,” Rose stares at her feet. She’s not used to how sensitive he can be about things. The Doctor was never so particular about things, but if he was bothered by something he made a point of telling her. The Master doesn’t seem to understand that; he just gets prickly and stiff and rude whenever someone says something he doesn’t like. “You need to tell me when I do something you don’t like…. I can’t read your mind you know.”

“Nobody likes people pointing out their flaws Rose Tyler,” The Master says flatly, “I particularly don’t like it.”

“I wasn’t pointing out your _flaws_ ,” Rose glowers at him.

He glowers right back at her and then turns away, staring at the city in the distance with a sigh, “Bloody _fantastic_.” She watches him dig in his inside coat pocket, pulling a cellphone from it.

“Hang on,” Rose says, “where’d you get that phone?”

“Bought it,” he says flatly as he dials.

“And your calling…?” Rose raises her eyebrows expectantly.

“Pete,” he replies, “You left the spare to the TARDIS in your dresser did you not?”

“How did you--- _wait_ have you been snooping in my dresser?” Rose asks indignantly.

“Yes,” he tells her, “I know where you hid the spare—it’s important. If I need to get into the TARDIS and you’re not home, I need to know where that key is.”

They’d had the TARDIS make a spare key in case of emergencies a few weeks back. It took some convincing on his part but she agreed reluctantly after a while. She hid the key in her dresser drawer beneath her knickers—someplace she was certain he wouldn’t be looking.

So much for that theory.

“Jackie,” The Master says flatly into the phone, biting back his irritation with the whole mess. Rose could tell he was containing his temper because if he snapped at Jackie she’d hang up on him. “Yes Jackie Tyler—put Pete on the phone please. Jackie… _Jackie_ …” He rubs his face irritably. “Jackie Tyler, Rose and I are in trouble. Yes, we were in the garden—no _don’t_ go into the garden Jackie Tyler. Put Pete on the phone _now_. This is an emergency—there’s something in the garden that sent us back in time.” He rolls his eyes at her next question, “ _Time Lord_ ,” he says as if it were obvious, “that’s how I’m calling you from the past.” Then he pauses, glowering at the phone before Pete takes over, “Pete—I need you to go to the TARDIS—No, not _now_ Pete, you need the key first….”

Rose steps away while the Master explains the situation to Pete. She wonders what year their in. When she glances back, the Master is finishing up on the phone with Pete.

“Yes Pete— _just pull the bloody lever_! The TARDIS is keyed to my screwdriver; it’ll find us I promise.” He rolls his eyes and looks at Rose, clearly agitated with Pete. He hangs up, rolls his eyes dramatically and looks at Rose, “ _How_ do you live with those two?”

“I’m not home very often,” she grins a little and looks away.

“It was like teaching a monkey sign language,” The Master grouses and Rose smacks him on the arm.

“Oi,” she says pointedly, “don’t be insulting my parents.” She frowns and after a beat adds, “You keyed the TARDIS to your screwdriver?”

“Yes,” he says without looking at her—he hadn’t discussed that with her at all, “I did.”

“Planning on telling me?” Rose quirks a brow.

“Possibly,” he says idly, staring at some random point in the distance, “Didn’t seem like something direly urgent. Aren’t you glad I did though? Now the TARDIS will be here any second to take us back.”

“I hope Pete makes it past the weeping angels,” Rose says worriedly.

“Oh bugger I knew I forgot something!” He says as he pulls out his phone and dials Pete’s number.

“ _You didn’t warn Pete about the weeping angels_!?” Rose almost shouts, her eyes widening in horror.

“Pete—yes, just a side note, mind the statues in your garden, they’re alive and they’ll displace you in time if they catch you,” the Master says before hanging up again. He turns to look at Rose with a sour look on his face, “I’m _trying_ alright? I’m not used to this…. I don’t do _this_. I’m not accustomed to thinking of other people, of worrying about saving lives and whatever hero nonsense the Doctor got up to when you were travelling with him—I’m not _him_ Rose Tyler, remember that. I don’t think like he does, I don’t _care_ like he does.”

Behind them, the hues of pink and orange bursting across the edges of the sky illuminate his face. He looks angry and frustrated all at once. Rose rubs the back of her neck wearily, “Alright,” she tells him after a beat, “I’m sorry…I just…I know you’re not accustomed to thinking of other people.”

“No I’m not,” he says flatly, glowering at her, “It’s always been just me—I don’t like travelling with anyone. I _like_ being on my own, I _like_ travelling alone. I don’t _need_ anyone. I’m not used to having others with me.”

“I get it!” Rose snarls and turns away from him, “Point made.”

“ _Good_ ,” he says flatly and the both fall silent, waiting for the TARDIS.

“I’ve never understood why he likes to keep pets,” The Master says quietly after a while.

“It’s more fun with two people,” Rose tells him, “someone to share the adventure with.”

“Yes,” he says slowly, considering her words, “But I’m not human Rose---I don’t need that sort of interaction with people. I don’t crave it like humans do. My people are a solitary sort, being alone doesn’t bother us. Humans need interaction, they _need_ contact with others. I don’t…it doesn’t even occur to me.”

“So what your saying is…. that’s normal for Gallifreyans?  You just…you’re just being what you are?” Rose asks, quirking a brow. “Tell me more…I mean…about your people’s customs. You’re all solitary people…what about the names? Do you ever just address each other with one name?”

“In families perhaps,” he says after a beat, “We can address family members by a single name…it’s considered improper to speak to someone not of the family by a single name only.”

“So calling me Rose would be…” Rose quirks a brow.

“Rude,” he tells her quietly.

“You call the Doctor, _Doctor_ all the time,” Rose comments idly.

“Doctor isn’t his real name,” he grins faintly.

“Oh,” she laughs a little.

Behind them they whirling on the TARDIS echoes as it lands. “Oh _finally_ ,” The Master sighs in relief.

“Think we might want to get inside,” Rose points to something in the distance, “That looks like a cop and they’ll probably think I’m standing here in my shift considering how short my dress is.” She turns towards the TARDIS, whips out her key and unlocks the door before stepping inside. The Master follows her in, switching on the cloaking device as he goes.

“I don’t want them seeing us,” he says by way of explanation, “a blue call box won’t blend in here.” He’s frowning at the monitor when she sprawls out on the pilot’s seat, kicking off her heels in relief.

“What?” Rose asks, rubbing her feet.

“It’s nothing,” he shakes his head, stares at the lever as if debating whether he wants to leave or not.

“Really,” Rose says, “what is it?”

“Would you be terribly disappointed if we didn’t go back to the party just yet?” He asks her, quirking a brow.

“Not even a little,” she sits up, glancing at the monitor, “So what is it?”

“There’s something here…more weeping angels,” he tells her, “It’s like…. there converging on London,” he frowns at the monitor and presses down on the lever, “I want to move her to London, somewhere safer before we get back out again.”

“I’m changing then,” she bounces to her feet, dashing towards the wardrobe room, “I’m not going out there like this.”

 

                                                                   

* * *

 

              

               “You’ll need an umbrella,” he comments idly as she emerges from the wardrobe room.

“It won’t rain,” Rose says as she taps the monitor, squinting as she reads over the weather, “might be cloudy though.”

“ _Rain_ ,” the Master tells her pointedly before pulling on his coat.

“You Time Lords have a thing about trying to predict the weather and you lot get it wrong half the time,” Rose tells him as she pulls a shawl across her shoulders, “I’m not lugging an umbrella around if I don’t need it.”

“Suit yourself,” he shrugs and turns towards the door, pausing to eye her dress, “a _corset_? Really? You’ll be miserable.”

“It goes with the dress,” Rose rolls her eyes, “you can’t wear a bustle dress without the corset.”

“Sure you can,” he tells her as they leave, “nobody’s going to notice.”

“Sure they will,” Rose tells him as she shuts the door behind them and they head out into London.

 

                                       

* * *

 

 

“So I thought you were all about observation instead of action?” Rose asks as they walk arm in arm down the streets of London. Rose chose a simple dark blue dress with black lace, and this time she got the century right—this time she read the tags first. The last time she was in the eighteen-hundreds with the Doctor she chose a dress from the wrong century. “And why is it you can go parading through the streets of Victorian London like you are and _I_ have to change clothes?”

“Because people don’t notice me,” he shrugs idly as they walk, “I’m not human—I can deflect them. And to answer your other question—I never said I was taking action, I just want to know why there’s a massive number of weeping angels gathering in London.”

“You think that angel sent us here for a reason?” Rose asks after a beat, “I mean…you know…like…” she pauses, debating her words, “Like maybe it was trying to tell us something?”

“Maybe,” he frowns in thought, “Weeping angels are intelligent creatures though I don’t know of anyone who’s ever actually spoken to one. They don’t have vocal cords.” He stops mid-step, his eyes on the cemetery just down the street before he looks at her, “Phone.”

“What?” she asks, pulling her phone from the little lace bag she carries with her, careful to keep it out of sight from others, “why do you need my phone?”

“Fixing it,” he says as he presses his screwdriver to it, wrinkling his brow in thought as he works. “There,” he tells her, “Now we can call each other if we get separated.”

Rose takes his proffered elbow and continues to walk, “This corset is miserable.”

“Told you to go without but you didn’t _listen_ ,” he says in a sing-song voice, smiling faintly at her.

Rose huffs as they walk, “The dress looks prettier with a corset on.”

“It does,” he agrees, “I don’t know if I’d have gone with _that_ hat in particular, but the rest looks fine.”

“What’s wrong my hat?” she frowns, her free hand reaching up to touch the dark blue hat perched on her head.

“Never mind,” he waves her off and Rose glowers at him irritably.

“Nothing’s wrong with my hat,” she tells him pointedly.

“If you think so,” he shrugs.

“ _Nothing_ ,” she glowers at him.

“Ok,” he replies evenly.

“Oh _fine_ ,” Rose rolls her eyes, “what is it?”

“The ribbon,” he tells her, “The ribbons all wrong on that hat.”

There’s a scream nearby and a woman flees the cemetery. She’s barreling right towards them, her hat flying off her head as she goes. “Oi!” she shouts at them, “Get out of here—run! That thing got my Gregory!”

“What thing?” Rose catches her by the elbow as she darts past, “What’d look like?”

“Statues,” she whispers breathlessly, horror in her eyes, “The statues are _alive_! There’s wickedness in that place, there’s _evil_!”

Rose glances at the Master, “Sounds like were on the right path.”

“Indeed,” he watches the woman run, glances at the hat on the ground, “Her hat’s quite sensible.”

“Your still on about my hat?” Rose sputters as they walk towards the cemetery, “If you like her hat so much why don’t _you_ wear it and leave mine alone.”

“Oh it wouldn’t go with my suit,” he tells her, pats her hand and pulls away from her as he pulls his screwdriver from his coat pocket to scan the area. “You _could_ help you know,” he reminds her casually as he works, “You’ve got a screwdriver too, you could go scan around the other side of the cemetery and I’ll look around here.”

Sometimes Rose forgets that he doesn’t see her as companion like the Doctor did. He sees her as another person, not just someone to follow along behind him. She likes that—that he gives her responsibility. He lets her help; he expects more from her. He expects her to help him carry the weight like an equal rather than a side-kick. He also expects her to save herself—something Rose has gotten good at lately—he doesn’t feel the need to run to her aid every time she gets into a spot of trouble. He expects her to sort it out on her own, to get herself out of trouble.

She makes her way around to the other side of the cemetery, passing between grave stones. Her screwdriver in her hand, she scans the area, smirking at the whirling noise it emits. The TARDIS knew her so well it even made a screwdriver that sounded like the Doctors—probably to annoy the Master. She wrinkles her nose when she finds nothing, turns in a circle to look at the surrounding area. There were statues everywhere, but none that looked like the one that attacked them earlier. It was a creepy thought, the idea that there were aliens out there that looked like statues so long as you kept looking at them, but the moment you turned your back…

She whips around, the hair on the back of her neck standing on end. There was a statue a few feet away, hands over its face, turned in her direction. She eyes it cautiously, her eyes on its face as she examines it. Running the screwdriver over it, it beeps twice.

She’s found one.

“Gotcha,” Rose beams at it, “Alright you…. what do you want? You brought us here… _why_?”

Behind her, Rose hears a shout and a loud _bang_. Rose jumps, her gaze whipping around to look in the direction the noise came from. When she looks back, she gasps and steps backwards. It’s moved again, this time it’s hands are outstretched and its eyes are open. “Easy,” Rose tells it, “I’m here to _help_ …don’t displace me ok?”

It was a risk—but she didn’t have much of a choice. It couldn’t move unless she looked away, so she stepped farther back, careful to keep space between them. When she blinks, it’s moved again and it’s right in her face. She tries not to scream—she hadn’t realized how fast they were. Its fingers are barely hovering near her arm and its other hand is pointing _down_.

“Oh no,” she scoffs as she steps farther back away from it, “I’m not looking down so you can grab me or something. Look I’m trying to help you.” She circles around it, keeping her eyes on it so she can see what it’s pointing at.

It’s written something in the dirt.

_Cellar._

“Cellar?” She quirks a brow, “There’s no cellar under this cemetery…I don’t think,” Rose frowns thoughtfully. Her gaze jerks upward at the sound of another shout, and when she looks at the angel it’s turned to face her.

She’s not alone anymore.

There’s four of them now, two behind the gravestones just beyond the one she’s speaking to, and another to her right. “Right,” she keeps her gaze on them all as best she can, backing away slowly, “Ok…I’m leaving ok? Look…I’ll find that cellar or whatever your talking about…I’ll find it alright?”

There was no point in waiting around any longer—she runs. She picks up her skirts and runs as fast as she can for the gates to the cemetery, dodging and diving statues left and right. Narrowly she escapes, ducking to the right as a stone hand reaches out to grab her.  “Harry!” she yells and turns in a circle, but she can’t find him anywhere, “ _Harry_!”

No answer.

“ _Fuck_!” she hisses under her breath, darting from the cemetery.

                              

* * *

 

              The streets of London become busy as the morning progresses. Rose keeps to herself, heading straight for the TARDIS. The Master gave her a phone—he just failed to give her a phone _number_. She rolls her eyes as she thinks of it, annoyed the more she dwells on the issue. He’s a brilliant man—he just had his moments. The wind picks up and she pulls the shawl across her shoulders even tighter still, burrowing down beneath the material. When the rain starts, her scowl deepens. Her dress was getting absolutely soaked, and to make matters worse— _there went her hat_.

“Oh bother,” she growls and darts after it as the wind carries it away from her. When she finds it, it’s sitting on the cobblestone pavement a little worse for wear but nothing major. Bending over to retrieve it a shadow crosses her path and the distinct patter of rain on the top of an umbrella overhead could be heard. She looks up, her gaze on the black heeled shoes, the deep purple dress trimmed in black, the pressed pale pink dress shirt buttoned at the throat with a gold brooch. The woman before her has thick dark hair swept up neatly and pinned, bright blue eyes watched her from under heavy dark lashes.

“My, my,” she says casually, “it’s absolutely raining _sheets_ out here dear, where’s your umbrella?”

Yet another sting to her pride as she recalls a conversation from earlier. The Master told he thought it might rain—she didn’t believe him. Now it was raining and she was chasing her hat through the muddy streets. “I forgot it,” Rose says quietly as she straightens, brushing the dirt from her hat.

“ _Oh_ ,” she smiles knowingly, “Husband told you to bring it and you insisted it wouldn’t rain eh?”

“Something like that,” Rose tells her, straightening the hat on her head.

 The woman holds her umbrella up higher to shield Rose from the rain, a smile curving her lips, “Come along then—you can use my umbrella.”

“Thank you,” Rose tells her, “your very kind.”

“I _try_ to be,” she says with a dramatic sigh as they walk down the street, “What are you doing out here all on your own if I might ask? A Lady should never be unescorted.”

“You’ve no escort,” Rose points out after a beat.

“Oh,” she grins at Rose, “That’s _my_ bakery just over there,” she nods to a building in the distance, “I don’t need an escort. Come inside—have a cuppa with me. You’re like to catch a cold in that wet dress.” Rose follows her into the bakery—mostly because she was freezing—and for some reason the woman felt… _familiar_.

“Have a seat love,” she motions to the two arm chairs by the fireplace, a table placed between them. The room is warm and the fire crackles in the hearth pleasantly. Everything was precise in this place, from the polished tiled floors to the pale pink wallpaper. Rose spreads her shawl out near the hearth to dry and scowls at the mud on the hem of her dress. The TARDIS was going to have a fit when she sees the dress. She stares at the hearth, her eyes travelling along the bizarre designs in the stone and wood along the mantel. Behind her, the woman brings a tray of tarts and a pot of tea. She sets them on the table and stares at Rose, a dark eyebrow lifting slowly, “ _Sit_.”

“Oh,” Rose starts and drops down into one of the seats, the woman doing the same across from her. She pours Rose her tea first, then herself. Rose watches her drop sugar, milk and honey into it before handing her the cup, “How did you…”

“Lucky guess,” she smiles faintly, “it’s a common accessory to tea is it not?”

“I…” she watches the woman sip her tea, “Thank you.”

“Think nothing of it dear,” she waves Rose off, her blue eyes shifting between the tarts and Rose, “ _Well_?”

Rose smiles—or tries to—and takes a bite of one of the tarts before setting it back down on the plate. She was a demanding lady, Rose had to give her that. “There lovely.”

“Of _course_ they are dear,” she smiles faintly, “So, where’s your husband? You shouldn’t be out in the market alone.”

“He’s…busy,” Rose tells her, uncertain of how to phrase it.

“ _Oh_ ,” she rolls her eyes heavenward, “ _Men_ , I tell you. Completely _careless_. My boyfriend—I’ll tell you—my boyfriend when he gets that face I’ll say to him— _you’re wearing that face again you know_ —and he just goes _runnin’_ off. Men, _honestly_.” She scoffs and sips her tea. “Don’t you worry love,” she pats Roses arm reassuringly, “You can stay here with me just as long as you like.”

There’s a bang somewhere behind them, and Rose turns to look. She sees a flash of dark cinnamon hair, a white jumper…

 _Smack_.

Rose jumps and turns to face the woman again who smiles serenely, her palm flat on the wood of the table between them. “ _There was a fly_ ,” she says delicately, “I hate flies—nasty little things, aren’t they?”

“I just saw…there was a woman in _modern clothes_ …” Rose turns to look again but whoever it was is gone now.

“Oh yes,” the woman nods, “Some of the dresses the high-born ladies bring back from they’re travels are quite fashionable, aren’t they?”

They sit in silence, sipping tea, Roses cheeks burn from the heat of the hearth, it was lovely to be warm again. “I’m Rose,” she says after a long while, “I’m sorry…I didn’t introduce myself.”

“It’s fine dear,” a smile curves her lips before her eyes travel up towards the hat atop Rose’s head, “My…what an interesting hat.”

“Oh,” Rose touches it, a blush creeping up her neck to her cheeks, “I dropped it in the mud outside.”

“I can see that,” she sets her cup aside and stands, snatching the hat off her head without even asking. Rose watches her, wide eyed and curious. “Oh I can fix this,” she tells Rose with a knowing smile, “ _Easy_.” She yanks the ribbon right off the hat and replaces it with a strip of gold she pulls from her pocket. Rose watches, curious and a little put out that some random woman—however kind she’s been so far—was tearing up her hat.

“There,” she says, pleased. “All better,” she motions for Rose to stand, “Come here love.”

Rose follows her, coming to stand in front of a mirror in the corner—where did that mirror come from anyways? Rose was certain it hadn’t been there a moment ago.

The woman—who was just an inch or so taller than Rose hovers behind her as she neatly sits the hat on her head and tilts it to the side. “There see,” she beams at Rose, “Just lovely—and quite fashionable, if you tip it _just_ so.” She taps a carefully manicured nail against her bottom lip in thought before pulling the brooch from her collar and pinning it to Rose’s hat, “There…better.”

“Oh I couldn’t take your brooch…” Rose trails off when the woman presses a finger to her lips.

“Oh no dear it’s quite alright I assure you,” she tells her, “I’ve got _plenty_.”

Rose had to admit the hat did look better.

The Master was never going to let her live this down---speaking of which…

“I probably should be going,” Rose says after a pause, “I need to find my…um…”

“Husband?” The woman supplies with a quirked brow.

“Yes,” Rose says, “him.”

“Where’d you see him last?” She asks, tilting her head to one side.

“The cemetery…we were…admiring the statues,” she explains quietly, “I haven’t a way to call--- _write_ him. He didn’t give me his address.”

“Not to worry dear,” she says, “I’m sure you’ll find him.”

Rose grabs her shawl from the hearth and wraps it around her shoulders before starting for the door. The woman—what _is_ her name anyways? —meets her there with a blue satin umbrella in one hand and a folded piece of paper in the other. She proffers them to Rose with a thin smile, “Go on then—off you pop.”

“What’s this?” Rose takes the umbrella under one arm and stares at the note in her other hand.

“No time,” she tells Rose, ushering her out the door and onto the sidewalk. Rose pulls the umbrella up and holds it overhead, shielding herself from the rain. “What’s this paper?” she calls back to the woman.

“ _Best number in the Universe_ ,” she calls back with a wave, “you’d be _surprised_ how many times I’ve had to say that lately.”

Rose unfolds the paper and reads over the numbers scrawled neatly across it. “Oi…” she says aloud, “this is a _phone number_!” She trails off as she looks up, blinking at the sight before her.

“What the _bloody hell_ was in that tea?” she blurts aloud, staring at the empty alley where the building had once stood, wedged between two other houses.

 

                                                         

* * *

 

 

She stares at the phone in her hand and then at the number on the paper. “Oh what the hell,” she sighs and dials the number.

It rings twice before he picks up, his voice hushed to a whisper on the other end of the line. “I’ve been arrested,” he hisses into the phone, “I’ll be out in a pinch—wait for me at Trafalgar’s square.”

“Did I just hear a _laser_?” Rose wrinkles her brow at the sound she hears on the line as he speaks.

“Possibly,” he tells her with a grunt of exertion, “I’ll be there shortly— _don’t go anywhere_.”

“Aren’t you gonna ask me how I got your number?” Rose quirks a brow.

“I gave it to you, didn’t I?” he frowns—or she thinks he’s frowning.

“No,” Rose tells him, “some woman on the street gave it to me—said it was the _best number in the universe_.”

“Some random woman on the street gave you my phone number?” He frowns, “What was her name?”

“Dunno,” Rose tells him, “It never came up in conversation.”

“Go to the square,” he tells her after a long pause, “I’ll meet you there in a bit.” He hangs up.

Rose rolls her eyes and tucks her phone back into her purse before heading towards the square. Some random woman has his phone number—that was not random. She was _somebody_ he knows surely, somebody close enough to have the number to a phone he only just bought recently.

 

                                       

* * *

 

 “You find anything?” He asks as he approaches, crossing the muddy wet streets towards her.

“Yeah…the angels left me a message—you?” Rose quirks a brow.

“I saw them displace someone if that counts,” he tells her, “So…this woman?”

“Yeah,” Rose tells him, “ _that_ woman—where’d you get off to anyways? How’d you get arrested?”

“I was following up on a lead…inside someone’s house,” he trails off, staring at a point beyond her shoulder.

“You broke into someone’s house?” Rose quirks a brow.

“Possibly,” he shrugs.

“So while you just wandered off without a word, your _Time Lord girlfriend_ drops by to give me your number?” Rose says almost indignantly, “Ya just left and didn’t say _anything_!”

“I fixed your phone,” he glowers, “I figured if you wanted to find me you’d call me.”

“Ya didn’t even give me your number!” Rose retorts.

He pinches the bridge of his nose, inhaling deeply to contain whatever temper that might threaten to boil over. “One—Rose Tyler, Time _Lady_ …Two—I don’t have a _girlfriend_ and three--…” he frowns at her for a moment before the expression fades, “There aren’t any of us left.”

“She had this bakery that just vanished into _thin air_ ,” Rose tells him pointedly.

“ _Yes_ ,” he tells her firmly, “lots of ships can disappear and reappear like the TARDIS does.”

“And she knew your _phone number_ —and she gave me this umbrella—and she just _knew_ things…” Rose blurts out, “and…. what are you looking at my hat for?”

“She did this?” he asks, touching the fabric of her hat, his finger sliding over the gold ribbon and the brooch.

“Yes,” she tells him quietly, “said it was more _fashionable_.”

“It is,” he agrees as he gently removes the hat and fingers the brooch with a thoughtful frown before placing the hat back on her head. “don’t lose that hat.”

“I’ll try not to,” she tells him curiously, watching the odd expression dance across his face.

“I’m not in the habit of keeping pets Rose Tyler,” he says after a pause, “I’m not going to stand around and call you every time I want to go exploring.”

“I’m not a _pet_ ,” she scowls at him irritably.

He turns on heel to face her, bending low so his face is close to hers, “Then _stop_ acting like one.”

Ok…. he had a point.

She and the Doctor always stuck together, she wasn’t used to this. The Doctor didn’t just wander off and leave her wherever and expect her to come find him. He usually called her, or went looking for her. The Master was entirely different, he expected more from her.

“Now then,” he straightens his overcoat lapels, “What did you find?”

“They wrote _Cellar_ in the dirt,” she explains. “There aren’t any Cellar’s beneath the cemetery, right?”

“No,” he says thoughtfully, “and I doubt they’re referring to catacombs either. Cellar is a _name_.”

 

 

                                                       

* * *

 

     They duck out of a sudden downpour around noon into a little street side café. Strictly because he’s taller ( _not_ because he’s trying to be a gentleman or anything) he holds her umbrella up so that it shields both of them as they step beneath the awning and into the building. He shakes the umbrella out, his fingers brushing over the blue satin curiously before leaning it against the far wall by the door. The room is warm and the walls are deep magenta accented in gold. They sit at a table by the window, Rose’s eyes on the street beyond while he orders.

“How are we gonna find this _Cellar_ person?” Rose asks, quirking a brow.

“Not sure,” he waves the server off and looks at her.

“How are we paying?” Rose quirks a brow at him.

“I think, Rose Tyler, the question you should be asking is how I get around without ever paying for a thing,” he tells her, smugness in his eyes.

“You hypnotize them, don’t you?” Rose tilts her head to the side, “or just…meddle with their head a bit. You didn’t pay for that phone, did you?”

“Nope,” he says without meeting her gaze, his eyes on the cuffs of his coat as he slides it off his shoulders and smooths the fabric over with his hands.

“That’s _stealing_ ,” Rose says quietly, irritation flashing in her eyes.

“ _Time Lord_ ,” he tells her with raised eyebrows.

“That’s _not_ an excuse to just do whatever you like,” Rose tells him flatly, “it’s responsibility—even _Time Lords_ have rules.”

“Do you think _the Doctor_ paid for everything he took?” The Master asks, quirking a brow at her, “He didn’t you know. Being what I am, I’m not always going to have the funds to pay for something, especially on a different planet or in a different time.”

“The TARDIS is bound to have cash in it for things like this,” Rose tells him pointedly, “one of us needs to remember to bring it—I’m not in the habit of thievery.”

“ _Oh no_ ,” he tells her with a mocking gaze, “you’re as innocent as a lamb, aren’t you?”

“Funny,” Rose says dryly and smiles at the server who brings them tea and sandwiches.

               They eat quietly, though he hardly eats anything at all. He’s more like to sip his tea and read the daily paper that he’d swiped from another table. Rose watches him read through it, flipping from page to page until he pulls a section out and extends it out to her, “Start looking.”

Rose takes it, smoothing the paper out across the table as she reads through the different articles. “Gotcha,” Rose announces after a long while, “ _Dr. Abraham Cellar will be holding afternoon tea for his fellow colleagues of the sciences at his home at two o’clock, in honor of his scientific achievement in…_.”

“ _In_?” He quirks a brow expectantly, setting his own half of the paper aside.

“ _Time travel_ …” Rose says, meeting his gaze, “That’s impossible.”

“There’s that word again,” The Master says with a roll of his eyes as he stands, “Come along.”

“That’s not right,” Rose says as she follows him out onto the street, handing him her umbrella so he can shield them both. “There’s no time travel in the present day where we’re from.”

“What exactly can you consider _present day,_ Rose Tyler?” he asks after a beat, “as one who travels through time so often, you can’t really consider yourself to have a _present day_ anymore.”

“I was born in a certain time,” Rose tells him, “so when I was born is present day for me.”

“You were born in a different universe— _as was I_ ,” he tells her pointedly, “we don’t _have_ a present day here.”

“ _Back on point_ ,” Rose frowns up at him, annoyed with his lack of focus, “The article said he’d have tea at his family home, _Cellar House—_ there’s to be a demonstration and everything _.”_

“Well,” he tells her as they walk arm in arm down the street, “we’re just going to have to see about _that_.”

                                                     

* * *

 

 

               They take a carriage across town towards the upper-class district. Out the window Rose can see Manors and houses of every sort. The rain has stopped for now though the wind is still icy. “Good thing I left my hair up,” Rose muses aloud as they come to a stop before a grand looking manor house. Outside there are people gathered, filing in through the wide double doors dressed in silks and satins. Notably, most were men—which isn’t a surprise considering the time period. The driver opens the door and offers his hand, Rose taking it with a smile as she carefully steps out and pops open her umbrella, holding it steadily overhead until the Master climbs out.

“I’m not carrying _that_ in front of those people,” he tells her pointedly as he offers her his elbow, “but it would look odd if I don’t escort you in.”

“Oh so you can putter about in London with a blue satin umbrella but the minute we step into polished society you’d do no such thing?” Rose grins at him in amusement and takes his elbow, “So how are we getting inside?”

“Just let me do the talking,” he says quietly as they pass through the iron gates and walk towards the tall mahogany doors ahead.  They stop at the front steps as the Butler steps forward, his gaze shifting between them curiously.

“Lord Saxon and his assistant Ms.---…” he begins but Rose cuts him off.

“ _Adler_ ,” she smiles politely at the Butler, “Ms. Adler.”

The Master looks at her questioningly but hasn’t the time to ask as the Butler turns to announce them. They step past and go inside. “ _Adler_?” he asks once out of ear shot.

“I’ve read the _Sherlock Holmes_ novels,” Rose tells him quietly with a pleasant smile still curving her lips, “and those books don’t exist in this universe so they won’t know who Irene Adler is.” She tells him, grinning cheekily.

“Well if you get to be Adler then I should be Moriarty,” he tells her with a smirk.

“Moriarty never wins,” she points out.   

“Ah,” he says as they step farther into the room, following the crowd into a large parlor. “But this is a different universe—time to mingle.” He pulls her along into the crowd and she lets him. It’s clear to Rose he has an idea of what he wants to do. “Go with the women-folk—off with you,” he says, motioning towards an adjoining room, “you can’t stay here with me—it’s inappropriate.”

“ _Women-folk_?” Rose says indignantly, but quiets at the look he gives her. She knows it’s useless to argue with him about this.

“Ladies during this time didn’t partake in talk of politics or business. If you stay here with me it will make the others uncomfortable, they’ll think you imprudent,” he says with raised eyebrows, “ _go_.”

“ _Fine_ ,” she mutters under her breath and turns on heel towards the adjoining room.

“ _Assistant_ ,” she scoffs under her breath a moment later, “ _assistant_ my--…” she cuts off, forcing a smile across her face as a woman approaches her.

“Good afternoon,” she tells her politely, “I’m Isabella Cellar and you are?”

“Adler,” Rose tells her, “Irene Adler.”

“Welcome Ms. Adler,” Isabella says as she takes Roses arm and walks with her further into the parlor, “it’s so rare that other ladies attend my Father’s functions. I’m pleased you could join us today. Forgive me if I seem overeager,” she laughs a little, a blush on her cheeks, “I must seem terribly rude.”

“Oh no,” Rose smiles, “It’s fine—really. My…. Lord Saxon sent me to sit with you.”

                                                   

* * *

 

“So,” Dr. Cellar says casually—he’s an elderly man, all but bald with a grey beard. He and the Master have been speaking for the past few minutes along with his colleagues. “A _female_ assistant?”

“Oh she came _highly_ recommended,” the Master tells him, “She was the assistant of a colleague of mine—already _trained_.” He says as he tucks the amused smirk he feels threatening to curve his lips back towards the edge of his mouth. Rose would be furious if she heard him.

“Women folk aren’t meant to meddle in the sciences I believe,” One man states casually—Lord…Breson? Breadon?... _something_ , the Master could hardly be bothered to remember his name. Where’s he’s from men and women had equal roles in society—a woman could be just as brilliant as a man. Hell, he’s met a few who were twice as smart. On this primitive and smelly little planet however, these people still lived in the dark ages.

“Quite right,” another says, “It’s bad luck.”

“Time travel,” the Master says casually, “I admit I’m surprised—it takes a great deal of power to do such a thing. Wherever did you get it?”

“Oh,” Dr. Cellar grins knowingly, “That my friend is my greatest secret—I will however demonstrate my device this evening. I think you shall all be quite impressed.”

“I certainly hope this isn’t another one of your mad schemes Abraham,” One says casually, “I _do_ seem to recall the last time you had one of these little gatherings.”

“It’ll work,” he says flatly, the smile fading from his expression, “It will.”

“We’ll see about that, won’t we?” The man turns to the others and then back towards Abraham, “Or you’ll be off the committee—we won’t have some crack-pot scientist tarnishing our reputation.” They turn and leave as a group, and the Master glances at Cellar.

“I suppose you’ve come to mock me too,” he scowls at the Master, “I’ll not have it.”

“No,” the Master says quickly, sensing his chance was at hand, “of course not—I’m well versed in the scientific arts—might I have a look at your device? I’ve always found myself quite fascinated with the theory of time travel, it’s why I came all the way here to see it.”

Cellar watches him warily for a moment, “I ought not to,” he tells him after a beat, “I was going to hold it for the demonstration…but…” he sighs, “Oh why not.”

                                     

* * *

 

               Down the hall from the main room the Master follows Cellar into a separate parlor near the garden. Bits of wire, tools and odd looking devices are scattered from one end of it to the other. “It took me three years to sort it out,” he tells the Master idly, “ _Chronon_ energy—that’s the key. However, harnessing it proved difficult.” He frowns as he stares at the little device on the table, “It’s designed to transport one through time.”

And _space_ …but the Master wasn’t about to tell _him_ that.

 _That_ was a vortex manipulator.

The Master, examining the manipulator could find no flaw in it save the base code was missing. Someone had clearly given Cellar the device. The elderly man before him didn’t build this at all--someone gave it to him. The question is, why? What did the man trade said person to gain such a device, or better if not traded perhaps the person in question wanted something from him?

“You didn’t build this,” the Master says knowingly as he turns to face Cellar, “you had no hand in its creation—who did? Who gave it you?”

“I _beg_ your pardon I---…” he trails off, his expression going from indignant to blank in an instant. The Master steps forward, his gaze locked on the other man as he holds his mind.

“Who gave it to you?” The Master asks pointedly.

“I…I don’t know,” Cellar says blankly, “He didn’t tell me his name.”

“ _He_?” The Master quirks a brow— _The Valeyard_. Why would the Valeyard being handing out manipulators like that? What good would come from it? “Why did he give it to you?”

“My work was failing,” he says quietly, “they called me a washed-up scientist….my work in time travel was getting nowhere…I thought I’d be the laughing stock of the whole city until he showed up…he just gave it to me…”

“Really?” he quirks a brow, “Why is that?”

“I don’t know…” he says blankly as he blinks at the Master.

“Well,” the Master sighs as he takes the manipulator and tucks it into his coat pocket, “you won’t be needing this anymore.” He pulls the laser screwdriver from his coat pocket, fiddling with the settings before he steps back and aims it at the man, “and to prevent any further meddling— _just in case_.” He says as he sneers at him. He could just wipe his memory—but who’s to say that same person won’t come along and meddle some more? He hasn’t a clue who did this, he couldn’t just leave it all to chance.

The Master presses the button and watches with disinterest as the man shrinks to the size of a doll. Tucking his screwdriver away again he picks up him up and sets him on the shelf, “There you are,” he tells the shriveled-up thing that had once been a man, “Apologies…but I simply _couldn’t_ let you run about. If _he_ comes back to check on you, I can’t leave it to chance he won’t try again.” He pauses, considers the doll on the shelf before adding, “It’s much cleaner this way I promise you.”

The Doctor would have never gone this route of course, always the one for taking the long road as he is. The Master however had no such compunctions about short-cuts. This was one of the quicker ways to prevent disaster.

Rose needn’t know about this.

 

* * *

 

    Twenty minutes in and Rose was already bored to tears. They all sat around talking about the gossip of society, sipping at tea and nibbling away on delicacies. The only one who was seemingly as bored as she was is Isabella.

“Is it always this exciting?” Rose asks her quietly.

Isabella smothers a snicker behind one hand, “You should see them on a holiday—positively _enlightened_ , the whole lot of them.”

“Would you mind pointing me in the direction of the...” what was the word for bathroom? It can’t be _loo_ because that isn’t posh… “Privy?”

“I’ll show you,” Isabella tells her in hushed tones, “in fact, I’ll walk with you there.” She turns towards the others, speaking a little louder to Rose this time, “Ms. Adler—have you seen my garden? I believe you mentioned your taste for ingenuity earlier…my Father’s brilliant with gardening, he’s created a whole piping system to water the plants—would you like to see it?”

“That would be lovely,” Rose chimes in as they stand.

“Don’t make eye contact,” Isabella tells her under her breath, “Just smile and keep walking.”

“Way ahead of you,” Rose says with a cheeky little grin.

               They turn down a hall and stride through a corridor lined in portraits. Rose admires a few as they go, mostly all were men but a few were women. “Family patriarchs and matriarchs,” Isabella supplies easily.

“They all look so….” Rose stumbles on a word, tries to think of something less rude.

“Bored?” Isabella laughs, “Yes…I suppose they must have been. Mine’s just at the end—I almost fell asleep in the middle of it.”

“Are they all...” Rose asks as she glances back at the crowd of women in the parlor behind them, “do they always do that?”

“Yes and no,” Isabella tells her, clasping her hands behind her back as they walk. Rose can’t help but admire the steel grey satin of her gown, the designs were lovely. It flowed like a waterfall behind her as she walked. “A woman in these times must find herself occupied least she stray to idle gossip. Or at least that’s what my Mother always used to say.” Isabella smiles at her, recalling her Mother. “My Mother always encouraged advancement—she wanted me to learn my letters and numbers, to read and read and read…my Father encouraged it too, though he didn’t want me displaying such wit in public. My job as an heiress is to find a husband and get married—produce an heir.”

“Your keen on science then too?” Rose asks with a quirked brow.

“Aren’t you?” Isabella asks her thoughtfully, “You are Lord Saxon’s assistant are you not?”

“Yes,” Rose tells her, “But I’m not allowed to do any of the heavy technical things…he’s more of a researcher then a hands-on sort of scientist.”

“I see,” Isabella nods thoughtfully, “have you any knowledge in physics?”

“Quite a bit actually” Rose tells her, “I went to…I was taught about it. My…” Rose pauses, wondering how to explain this without giving anything away, “My Father taught me about it.”

“Ah,” she grins at Rose, “Your Father too then? That’s lovely—it’s always nice to find someone whose interest in the sciences match my own.” They turn down another hall and reach a pair of white double French doors. Isabella opens them, pushing them to the side as they step out into the courtyard behind the Manor. “The Cellar Garden is well known for the lavender fields just beyond that hedge,” Isabella tells her, nodding in the direction of a hedge across the courtyard. “My Mother loved it out here—she planted and cared for all of the rose bushes you see out here.”

“Sounds like you loved your Mother very much,” Rose says softly.

“Oh yes,” Isabella nods, a distant look in her gaze as a frown bows her lips downwards, “I lost my Mother two winters back—pneumonia.”

“I’m terribly sorry,” Rose tells her.

“It’s alright,” Isabella smiles weakly and shrugs, “It was devastating but I’ve managed thus far.”

“I lost my Father,” Rose admits quietly, “He was killed…carriage accident.”

“I’m so sorry,” Isabella says with a frown, “the whole reason my Mother got sick was because of me…. if I hadn’t run off into the snow…” she frowns as she dwells on her thoughts.

“It’s not your fault you know,” Rose says after a beat, “Things happen…it isn’t anyone’s fault.”

“Oh but it is,” Isabella says pointedly, “I ran off into the snow—got myself lost—she went out looking for me…she got sick…” she shakes her head and blinks as if forcing tears away from her eyes, “It’s nothing—never mind.” She hums a moment, inhales deeply before saying, “I believe you wanted to go to the privy?”

“Oh,” Rose grins sheepishly, “I really just wanted to get away from that room if I’m being honest.”

Isabella laughs, “Then that makes two of us.” They walk through the rose bushes, following a cobblestone path that winds its way around the assortment of different flowers. “That Lord Saxon’s a handsome man—if you don’t mind me saying. I don’t mean to sound indecent of course…forgive me if I’m overstepping.”

“Oh,” Rose tells her with raised eyebrows, “No—it’s fine, really. He’s alright I suppose…. bit of a stiff if I’m honest.”

“Boring, too is he?” Isabella grins at her, “Most of my suitors haven’t the foggiest clue half the time, and the other half think they’re smarter than me, they just expect me to be the perfect wife.”

“Some women like that sort of thing though,” Rose tells her, “Getting married, having children….”

“Oh yes,” Isabella agrees, “There’s nothing wrong with that either—I just simply don’t care for it personally. I know an assortment of women are married with children and are quite adventurous. I just….” Isabella sighs softly, “I want _more_.”

“I know _that_ feeling,” Rose mutters quietly.

“Oh good _lord_ ,” Isabella says suddenly, catching Rose by the wrist, “Oh _no_.”

“What is it?” Rose’s gaze snaps up, her eyes following where Isabella is looking towards the house. There was a statue standing in the window, watching them.

“They’ve gotten out,” Isabella grits her teeth and darts towards the house, calling behind her as she goes, “Stay out here Ms. Adler—you’ll be much safer!”

 

                         

* * *

         

   It doesn’t take Rose long to find her, Isabella is watching two men chain the statue up. “Nice and tight gentlemen, we don’t want our friend getting loose now do we?”

“Why are you chaining that statue?” Rose asks with a quirked brow—she knew what it was—but did Isabella?

“Oh,” Isabella smiles knowingly, “believe me Ms. Adler—you want that statue chained,” she turns towards the men, “Keep your eyes on it gentlemen, remember what it can do.” They’re carting it down a flight of stairs into a basement beneath the house.

“You’re keeping statues in the basement?” Rose asks curiously—why were they taking that angel down there?

Isabella looks at her, opens her mouth but closes it. “Oh _alright_ ,” she sighs, “ _but_ Ms. Adler…can you keep a secret?”

“Yes,” Rose nods, “So?”

Isabella licks her lips and smiles thoughtfully before she begins, “Ms. Adler…you and I agree that women are quite capable of the sciences, are we not?”

“Yes,” Rose tells her, not liking where this is going.

“Come,” Isabella says as she takes Rose’s hand and leads her down into the basement. “Time travel has always been my Father’s greatest dream—but sadly he’s just not able to comprehend it. I have however…I’ve spent years studying it.” They reach the bottom step and are plunged into darkness. Isabella lights the candles along the walls and Rose lets out a cry of alarm, lunging backwards towards the stairs.  “Oh there’s nothing to fear Ms. Adler…they’re quite harmless like this.”

“What have you done?” Rose breaths, her eyes on the statues that were locked away behind iron bars, stone arms and claws outstretched between them, there expressions a mixture of rage and contempt.

“I’ve trapped them,” she grins at Rose, “It’s brilliant, isn’t it?”

“There was one of these in the cemetery,” Rose blurts out, “they’re _converging_ on London!”

“Well of course they are,” Isabella tells her knowingly with a secretive smile, “because _I_ lured them here.”

“How?” Rose stares at her, a mixture of horror and terror racing through her blood, “ _How_?”

“My friend,” she tells Rose, “he taught me how to lure them here and I built the device to do it.”

“But _why_ do you need them?” Rose frowns at her, “you _do_ realize there’s more coming this way—they’re angry…your trapping their people in _cages_.”

“To master time travel of course,” Isabella tells her, “as one scientist to another—is this not remarkable? _Think_ of what I can do with them, what we can _learn_ from them. I’ve spent years studying them, using them for my experiments.”

“Experiments?” Rose quirks a brow, “what sort of experiments?”

“There blood is fascinating,” Isabella tells her, “It’s terribly dangerous to get some of it, but when you manage it the things I’ve accomplished…” she sighs dreamily, “you can’t imagine how far I’ve come in my research.”

“They _displace_ people through touch,” Rose tells her flatly, “they can’t travel through time themselves.”

“I _know_ ,” Isabella smiles at her, “and you appear to be much more then you claim to be Ms. Adler—or is that even your name?”

“Never mind who I am,” Rose tells her pointedly, “what are you doing with their blood?”

“ _Many_ different experiments,” Isabella tells her excitedly—it was almost creepy the sort of eerie excitement in her eyes. “My more recent endeavor however…” she frowns as she glances at one of the cages towards the end of the room, “it didn’t go so well.”

There was a statue towards the end of the room, standing in that cage. Yet when Rose gets closer she realizes it’s not just another angel—it was human too. “You…. you injected someone with their blood?”

“Yes,” Isabella says as she comes to stand beside Rose, “I did the reverse too…all it seemed to do was make it so they could move while being watched…”

“But this one’s human,” Rose tells her, pointing at the statue in the cage.

“Yes,” Isabella tells her, “the poor fellow here…I wondered if we could harness their power of displacement for ourselves. I promised my friend if I could sort out this conundrum he’d make my Father the greatest scientist of the age.”

“And who is your friend?” Rose asks worriedly.

“Oh I don’t know his name,” Isabella shrugs, “he prefers to remain anonymous.”

These poor creatures—despite what they tend to do—were locked away in the basement for who knew how long. The only thing Rose could do was set them free and hoped they’d take care of the bloke at the end who’d been injected with their blood. Isabella was another problem though…

“Oh _bugger_ ,” Rose murmurs as she watches Isabella walk from cage to cage, tapping at the bars with a crook smile on her lips. “I’d _hoped_ you’d be one of the good guys…”

“But I am,” Isabella frowns, whipping around to face her, “This is for _science_ …for the advancement of mankind! Think of what we could do with this sort of knowledge!” She starts towards Rose and then stops, a strange light in her eyes, “Oh…oh I see.” She smiles at Rose knowingly, “I see what this is…my friend sent you didn’t he? He’s checking up on me—to observe my progress. Your one of his associates, aren’t you?”

Rose stares at her for a beat and says, “Yes…yes I am.” Then as it clicks into place she adds, “as is my companion…Lord Saxon. I have to admit I’m surprised—I hadn’t expected you to do so well.” Rose pretends to ponder the cages a moment before adding, “I’m going up to speak with Lord Saxon. I want him to see this last one,” Rose tells her, nodding towards the poor fellow in the last cage.

“Oh please do,” Isabella says brightly, “I’ll be in the parlor if you need me—if I’m away to long my Father will be cross.”

“Yes of course,” Rose smiles wanly, “must keep up pretenses.”

“Indeed,” Isabella agrees before Rose turns and heads back up the stairs, Isabella following her.

 

                                         

* * *

 

 They walk side by side until Rose spots the Master standing in a room off to the right. “Lord Saxon,” Rose says as smoothly as she can, stepping into the room. He turns and straightens, a serene expression on his face. “I was just looking over Ms. Cellar’s work.”

“We’re you now?” the Master asks with a quirked brow.

“Quite,” Rose tells him with her back to Isabella, meeting his gaze pointedly, “You know—the experiments in the basement. I should think our friend would want you to examine them personally, to assure him of Ms. Cellar’s progress.”

“Oh yes,” he says, his voice suddenly calm and formal, “Yes…I’ll be wanting to see those before we leave.”

“Oh,” Isabella chimes in, “go right ahead—I must return to the party or they’ll be missing me. I assure you I’ll return to your side as quickly as I can though. If I you would be so kind though, as to take my regards to our friend?”

“Of course,” the Master says in a voice Rose could only call his _serious_ voice.

“Your too kind,” Isabella smiles brightly and with a polite nod she hurries off down the hall towards the party.

“ _Experiments_?” The Master quirks a brow at her.

“You don’t know the half of it,” Rose tells him as her gaze flickers over the room, her eyes drinking in the scenery, “This his study?”

“Yes,” the Master says casually as he glances around, “it smells like dust in here.”

Rose paces the room, her fingers sliding over the books on the bookshelf, the old mahogany desk in the corner. There were books and scales and stacks of paper scattered everywhere, the only odd thing that stood out was the doll sitting on the book shelf—it might be something he bought on a trip. “Come on then, I’ll show you,” she says after a beat and turns towards the door.

“Yes,” the Master nods and turns once to look about the room before following her.

                                

* * *

 

  After filling him in on the situation, the Master paces the length of the basement with a sour look on his face. “She’s got tenacity—that’s for sure.”

“Yeah…” Rose nods thoughtfully, “she seemed alright—then she started in about the experiments and her friend….and these poor things locked up down here.”

“Mind them, will you?” The Master says as he nods towards one of the cages, “If they can reach you they can still displace you.”

“Any luck with Dr. Cellar?” Rose asks, quirking a brow, stepping farther away from the cages towards the center of the room.

“No,” the Master sniffs, his back to her as he walks towards the odd device at the end of the room, “I’ve pretty much shelved him.”

Behind her the Master examines the circular device on the floor that’s being used to draw them in. “It circumvents chronon energy like a TARDIS would,” he muses allowed, “practically radiates it—no wonder they were drawn to it.” With a quick flick of his screwdriver, a beam of light sends the machine bursting into sparks. “There—problem solved.” He straightens and rolls his neck, starting towards Rose again, “Now then,” he says as he turns to face the room, Rose hovering beside him quietly, “You lot…listen _up_. You were being drawn in and trapped here by _that_ device—which I’ve destroyed. I’m going set you free—you’re going to leave—and you’re going to take that….” He sneers at the fellow in the last cage at the end, “whatever he is, with you. Warn your kind to keep away.”

“Hold on you’re not going to--…” Rose cuts off, her mouth dropping open when he holds his screwdriver up over his head and emits an ear-piercing sound that makes her grit her teeth and plug her ears. “ _Bloody hell_!”

“RUN!” he says, yanking her by the elbow back up the stairs. Rose staggers after him, the sound of iron doors swinging open behind her.

“What the hell did you do that for!?” she yells as they run, “they’ll attack the guests!”

“I hardly think they’ll bother with the guests—they’ve been trapped for ages down there, they’ll only want to escape,” he tells her pointedly.

“You sure about that?” Rose quirks a brow.

“I don’t know,” he says honestly, “and _I don’t care_.” He adds as he yanks her by the wrist out the front door.

                                                  

* * *

 

   There half way up the street before Rose has to stop, glowering at him hotly, “I’m wearing a corset!”

“ _Yes_ ,” he tells her, “and don’t you _just_ wish you’d listened to me earlier.”

“ _Maybe_ ,” Rose growls at him, blushing brightly.

“Come on then,” he grabs her by the elbow and pulls her along with him, Rose struggling to match his longer strides. He glances back periodically and slows after a while, the tension leaving his body. “I can’t hear them anymore…I think we’ll be alright now.”

“You can _hear_ them?” Rose blinks at him.

“Course,” he frowns at her, straightening his lapels as he walks, “my hearing is _far_ superior to an ape.”

“Stop calling me an ape,” she glowers and slows to a walk, one hand on her abdomen as she catches her breath, “I don’t know how women managed it.”

“Well they didn’t run very often,” he points out, “that’s for sure.”

“Yeah,” Rose smiles faintly with a nod. “You sure the guests will be alright?”

“Oh don’t be _boring_ ,” he rolls his eyes, “they’ll be _fine_. The only one who’ll be in a spot of trouble is Ms. Cellar.”

“I forgot about her,” Rose stops mid-stride, “They’ll be hunting her.”

“Yes,” the Master says as he turns to pull her along with him yet again, “and it’ll serve her right for caging them like that.”

“Don’t be an ass,” Rose glares, “she thinks she’s doing it for the right reasons.”

“Yes, _yes_ ,” he rolls his eyes and gestures dramatically with his hands, “Good intentions and all—a lot of people do things with good intentions—doesn’t make them _good_.”

               They stop a carriage and climb in, Rose is exhausted. She nods off against the door to the lull of the carriage as is rocks and sways through the streets of London. Before long he wakes her, and she stumbles sleepily from the carriage towards the TARDIS down the street.

“I could have left you there you know,” he points out as they walk, “just think…you’d wake up in a carriage alone in London in the eighteenth century. I’ve got the TARDIS up and running—I could make off with it and nobody could stop me.”

“What’s your point?” Rose asks as she unlocks the doors and they go inside.

“That I didn’t leave you behind,” he tells her as he steps around her, shrugging off his coat and tossing it over the railing.

“Think that’s going to outweigh the fact that we may or may not have just left a bunch of people to their own fates because you let loose all the weeping angels in the basement of that house?” Rose asks with a quirked brow.

“ _Yes_ ,” he grins cheekily and yanks the lever, the TARDIS jerking sharply as it takes off into the vortex.

“Parking brake,” Rose reminds him as she yawns and stumbles her way back towards her room, leaving him to his own devices in the console room.

“Yes I _know_ ,” he tells her—ok so he forgot—but he won’t ever admit that to her.

                                     

* * *

 

In the aftermath of the attack, a woman stands alone in a garden under the pale moonlight. Isabella Cellar narrowly escaped disaster today, but now she faces an even bigger dilemma. “Forgive me,” she tells the man before her quietly, “I’ve failed you…all of my experiments escaped. It was that man I think… _Lord Saxon_ , he had a woman with him too…Irene Adler. I thought they worked for you…I thought you’d sent them.”

The Controller watches her thoughtfully, a frown on his face, “My employer is highly displeased with you Ms. Cellar.”

“I understand that,” she says quickly, “My Father is missing as well—I fear they may have gotten him.”

“Yes,” the controller says with a disinterested sigh, “Ms. Cellar…are you certain this is all the data you’ve collected thus far?” The controller asks, holding up a folder full of papers.

“Everything I could find,” she tells him pointedly, “I was quite thorough.”

“Good,” the Controller smiles faintly, “I’m terribly sorry to do this of course.”

“What?” Isabella freezes, her gaze locked on the device in his hands, “No please…give me another chance!”

“I’m afraid that’s out of the question Ms. Cellar….my employer was very specific that the Master not get involved…and now he’s onto us.” The Controller sighs as he presses the button and watches her disappear with a shriek of alarm. He can’t afford another mishap like this. The Master wasn’t even supposed to have been here—how did he find the place?

“Let’s go then,” he mutters as he presses the comm in his ear. He waits until he feels the familiar pull of energy around his body, and he too disappears.


	7. Neverwhen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own any of it or make any money from any of it, all of it belongs to those who created Doctor Who.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When two strangers show up in Jackie Tyler's backyard, Rose and the Master must figure out how to get them home.

“Left!” Owen shouts, “Left, here!”

“I know!” Rose shouts back, the tires screeching as they turn the corner.

“ _Bloody hell_!” Tosh scowls, clinging to the laptop on her knees, “Mind the corners will you!”

Outside, a creature similar to a cross between a rhino and a tiger was jumping from roof top to roof top, sending civilians on the streets below fleeing in every direction.

“No hiding this,” Owen says as he clings to the handle above the door, holding his breath as Rose pulls another tight corner, the car’s engine revving.

“Nope,” Rose tells him.

“It’s headed for the river,” Tosh tells him.

“Almost there,” Rose tells her.

“Here!” Owen yells and flings the car door open before Rose can even stop. He’s jumped out and running for the river before Rose is even out of the car.

“Owen be careful!” Rose yells, “don’t hurt it!” Whatever it was, it was the equivalent of an animal from the zoo. It was just lost and frightened.

“From alien catchers to zoo keepers,” Tosh heaves a sigh as she sets her laptop down in the backseat and follows Rose.

“Tell me about it,” Rose says as they both hurry after Owen.

               When they find him, he’s got it cornered. “Easy,” Owen coos gently, in one hand he’s got a steel grey device. It’s designed for this sort of problem, deploying a sort of calm over whatever it’s aimed at. They _hope_ it will work on the creature in question.

“Where are we going to put it?” Tosh asks, watching Owen work.

“In the back seat with you probably,” Owen replies, “don’t worry…it’ll be calm.”

“This is a rubbish idea,” Tosh tells him.

“It’ll make do,” Owen replies as he aims and pushes a button on the device in his hands. The creature before them goes from snarling to sleepy in seconds. “It’ll last an hour or so—enough time for us to get it back to Torchwood.”

               It takes two of them to usher it into the back of the car. Tosh isn’t pleased having to sit with it, pressing herself as far away from it as possible as they drive through the streets of London. “This is _rubbish_.” She scowls at Owen.

“Almost there,” Owen tells her, “if it gets restless just use that device on it again.”

 

 

           

* * *

 

 

 

               “I’m home!” Rose calls, dumping a bag of groceries on the kitchen counter before setting about putting them away. “Anybody home?” Rose calls but only silence greets her. Her Mum might be out with Tony still. She makes a pot of tea and fixes herself a cup before walking out to the TARDIS, unlocking the door and stepping inside. The Master is nowhere to be found and the console room looks clean. “Almost done, is he?” Rose quirks a brow, “that’d be lovely.” The TARDIS hums gently in approval and Rose smiles before she strokes the console lightly, “I wish you’d tell me what happened to…to _him_.” The lights flash and Rose sighs—she knows the TARDIS can’t help her with that…or can she? Her eyes fall on the camera just above in the corner, an idea clicking in her mind.

“The _tapes_ …” Rose blurts aloud—how could she have forgotten?

She darts forward, scrambling for the far panel on the wall. Yanking the panel door open she feels her herself deflate. “No….” she grits her teeth, dropping her forehead against the wall, “ _No_.”

“I thought of that,” The Master’s voice suddenly fills the silence behind her, “somebody’s ripped out the circuits…anything the TARDIS recorded was destroyed.”

“What’s he _hiding_?” Rose glowers as she turns to face him, “I don’t understand!”

The Master watches her pace the console room, deep in thought. “I think whatever was done to the console room was—it almost seemed like…” he pauses, contemplating it, “intentional.”

“So I was _right_?” Rose turns to face him, “He trashed the TARDIS on _purpose_ —sent it to me on purpose!” The Master frowns at her without answering, turning to grab his overcoat from a coat hanger near the door. Rose watches him, sensing there was something more he wasn’t saying. “You don’t think that, do you?”

“I don’t know what to think honestly,” he says after a beat, “come along---I want tea.”

                           

* * *

 

 

Outside the air was getting colder, Rose suspected winter was close at hand. Pulling her coat tighter around herself, she walks with the Master back towards the house.  “If it wasn’t intentional, then why?” Rose can’t seem to let it go, and it was clear the Master wasn’t keen to talk about it.

“Rose Tyler,” he says quietly, “have you ever considered that maybe he didn’t do this? I just can’t seem to fathom the Doctor intentionally wrecking his TARDIS regardless of _which_ version of him it is.”

“Oh how would you know?” Rose scowls at him as they walk, “You two never got on anyways.”

“I’m his _friend_ ,” the Master stops so suddenly she stumbles to keep up with him. “I’ve been his friend since we were _children_ on Gallifrey. He might drive me completely barmy—his compassion is _absurd_ —and his love of carting along you _miserable_ apes is _ridiculous_ , but he’s my _friend_. I know him—I know him better than you do, I’ve known him longer then you have. _He wouldn’t do this_.”

Rose stares at him, “I thought you hated him?”

“It’s complicated,” he tells her flatly before continuing towards the house.

“Um…excuse me?” a voice interrupts their conversation, and they both stop and turn, there gaze on the man behind them standing next to a red head. “Hi….eh…do you know where we are?”

“Um….” Rose starts, her gaze shifting between the tall, lanky looking man and the red head.

“Sorry,” the man says quickly, “it’s just…we were at home…and then suddenly we’re here.”

Rose and the Master only stare at them in bewilderment.

“Um…” the man begins and winces when the red head smacks him on the arm, nodding pointedly. “Ow—Amy! Sorry…. This is Amy and I’m Rory….and I’m not sure where we _are_.”

 

                                                         

* * *

 

 

 

“So,” Rose says slowly, “from the top— _how_ did you get into my Mum’s back yard?”

“We don’t know,” Amy tells her, “We just _were_.”

“What’s the last thing you remember?” Rose asks, behind her the Master fiddles with the tea pot on the stove. They sit around the table in her Mum’s kitchen.

“I was in the kitchen making tea,” Amy recalls slowly, frowning in thought as she stares at her clasped hands on the table, “and….it got really windy outside…”

“Yeah,” Rory chimes in, “and I was in the living room watching the tele.”

“Yeah!” Amy nods, adding onto Rory’s words, “I remember hearing the tele in the background.”

“Then we were here,” Rory shrugs, looking at Rose.

“So,” the Master leans against the counter, frowning at the two of them, “One minute you’re in the 1940’s and the next you’re here?”

“Yeah,” Amy says, “You’ve got the Doctor’s TARDIS,” she tells the Master, looking up at him hopefully, “are you…?” she quirks a brow.

“No,” the Master says quickly, all but choking on his tea, “decidedly _not_.”

“This is the Master,” Rose tells Amy, “and that TARDIS isn’t the Doctor’s TARDIS. I’m afraid….” She hesitates, unsure of how to explain this, “you’re in an alternate universe.”

“Ok,” Rory says with raised eyebrows, “How’s that then?”

“Well,” Rose begins slowly, “an alternate universe…. imagine bubbles…one big bubble and little bubbles all connected to that big bubble. The little bubbles are alternate universes. Now...usually travel between universes is impossible. However, the Master and I think there might be a hole in the wall between universes—which would explain how you got here…however it doesn’t explain what _brought_ you here.”

“So…how do we get back to _our_ universe?” Rory asks pointedly.

Rose sighs, a little frown on her lips, “I’m from your universe too…I got trapped here. I even travelled with the Doctor like you two did. There isn’t a way for us to get you home. We’d need another TARDIS in the other universe to open a corridor on that side…. however, if you came from the universe prime then that means there’s a hole on that side too…”

“Which would be convenient if my TARDIS was capable of space-travel,” the Master chimes in, “but it’s not so your stuck here.”

“Not _entirely_ ,” Rose adds, glaring at the Master because it was clear he was amused by the look of horror on Rory’s face, “We have a dimension cannon—but it takes _weeks_ to power up.”

“Lovely,” Rory says with a heavy sigh, “at least there’s _that_.”

“Rose… _Rose Tyler_?” Amy squints at her, “I think I remember the Doctor telling me about you once.”

Rose smiles wanly, “How is he?”

“Bow tie—big hair,” Amy grins faintly, “it’s been a while since I’ve seen him…he might have changed again.”

Rose raises both eyebrows, “Yeah…changed for me too—last time I saw him he was about the rock-a-billy look.”

“Really?” Amy asks, “Cuse he seemed more physics professor lookin’ to me—tweed jacket an everything.”

“Wow,” the Master comments idly to no one in particular, “His taste in style hasn’t changed a bit I see.”

“Sorry,” Amy looks up at him, “how do you know him exactly?”

“We grew up together,” the Master tells her, “you could call us old schoolmates.”

Amy smiles at him, “That’s great, though isn’t it?” she shifts her gaze between him and Rose, “it means he’s not alone…does he know you’re here?”

“No,” The Master tells her, “and I’d rather him not know if you don’t mind.”

“But,” Rory asks, looking bewildered, “I don’t understand—don’t you _want_ to find him? I mean you two are the only ones _left_.”

“The Master and the Doctor have a scattered history together,” Rose tells them, “It’s complicated.”

The room falls silent as they sip tea. Rose digs leftovers out of the fridge from the fundraiser and they eat as well, Rose debating on what to do with them. “I’ll call Torchwood in the morning and tell them to get the dimension cannon online.” Their two guests nod but remain quiet and Rose can’t help but feel sorry for them. “I’m sorry about this—I wish I knew how you got here.”

“I want to scan you,” the Master says after a beat, “maybe the TARDIS can figure it out.”

“You said it got _windy_?” Rose adds thoughtfully.

“Yeah,” Amy says, looking up at Rose, “It got _really_ windy outside.”

“and you don’t remember anything after that?” Rose frowns at her.

“Nope,” Amy tells her, “It’s all just a blank after that.”

“Same here,” Rory adds with a frown.

“Somebody’s wiped your memory,” The Master says thoughtfully, “Only a few thousand species in the universe that can do that,” he sighs heavily, “not counting the many different weapons capable of doing that as well.”

“They’ve been displaced through time and space _and_ universes,” Rose adds, “what can do _that_?”

“Not a clue,” the Master tells her, “and I’ve never heard of anything that _can_.” The thoughtful look on his face darkens, shifting from bewilderment to mild terror. When Rose notices, the expression drops and becomes blank.

“What?” Rose frowns at him, “what is it? You’ve thought of something, haven’t you?”

He’s staring at her oddly, as if trying to see something that isn’t there, “No.”

“I’ve seen that look on the Doctor’s face before,” Amy adds, “That’s his _lying_ face.”

“I’m not lying,” the Master sneers at her and turns, stalking out of the room.

“That’s his _I’m lying and leaving the room_ walk too,” Amy calls after him.

“Shut it,” the Master scowls, slamming the door behind him as he heads back out into the garden towards the TARDIS.

“Blimey—he’s got mood swings,” Rory points out.

“Yeah,” Rose says with a frown, staring at the space he’d been occupying moments before, “He doesn’t like being compared to the Doctor either.”

“Oh,” Amy frowns, “Sorry…didn’t mean to upset him.”

“He’s sensitive about some things,” Rose says quietly, “but your right…I think he’s lying.”

 

                                                       

* * *

 

 

 

               Once Rose had explained the situation to her Mum, she gave Rory and Amy the guest room to sleep in. Rose went through the usual routine when people stay over, proffering them towels, showing them around the house and ensuring they had what they needed.

“Come by my room if you need clothes,” Rose tells Amy as she starts for her bedroom, in desperate need of a shower, “I’ll find you something.”

               Sure enough when Rose stepped out of the shower a half hour later, Amy was sprawled on her bed staring at the ceiling. “Sorry,” Amy blushes as she sits up, “I’m exhausted.”

“Yeah I know the feeling,” Rose smiles wanly as she digs out pajamas for Amy. “Here—these should fit you...your bit taller than me though.”

“Thanks,” Amy smiles as she stares at the clothes and then at Rose, “it’s so weird you know? Being back in the present day. Rory and I got stuck in the 1940’s…Doctor couldn’t come get us because there was too much traffic in the vortex. We started over you know? Made a life for ourselves—we were going to adopt.”

Rose nods, recalling memories of her own life with the Doctor who wasn’t, “I was going to adopt once…things fell through though. Me and my…” she frowns at the memory, “Me and him…we didn’t work out. I can’t have children…”

“I know the feeling,” Amy murmurs, rubbing her face tiredly, “I have the same problem except it was something done to me.”

“I’m sorry,” Rose frowns at her before changing the subject—this was far too delicate to be discussing just yet, “That dimension cannon….it can’t move you through time. It’ll send you to the present day in the Universe prime.”

“That’s alright,” Amy waves her off, “I’ll just call my daughter to come pick us up.”

“You have daughter?” Rose smiles at her, “I thought you said…”

“It’s a long story,” Amy tells her, “Long story short, River—who’s my daughter—is a time travelling archaeologist. I met her before I knew she was my daughter because her time line’s all back to front with the Doctors. So, I end up finding out after giving birth to her at this place called Demon’s Run that they stole my baby and raised her to kill the Doctor but it turns out she’s his _wife_ and…” Amy laughs a little, “It’s a bit mad really.”

“ _Wife_?” Rose blinks and turns away to pull a tank-top out of one of her dresser drawers, “He got _married_?” There is a quiet little bubble of pain that sparks in her heart at the thought. It was good that he moved on though, it was good that he was happy.

“Yeah…” Amy’s expression drops at the tension in Roses shoulders, “Oh…I’m sorry…” Amy turns to face her fully, “I didn’t _know_ …”

“No it’s fine,” Rose smiles faintly, “ _really_ …I’m happy for him—I want him to be happy. I’m glad he’s not alone...I _want_ him to have someone you know? It’s what scared me the most when I got trapped here…that he’d be alone.” She swallows thickly, a lump in her throat. “So,” she tells Amy, “We don’t have to worry about how to get you back to your own time then.”

“No,” Amy answers, sensing Roses desire to change the subject, “No…River can come get us.”

“River,” Rose muses aloud, “it’s a beautiful name…”

“Well,” Amy smiles, “we named her _Melody Pond_ but she calls herself River Song.”

“Tell me about the Doctor,” Rose says after a beat, “How’s he doing? What’s he been up to?”

 

                                       

* * *

 

 

               They spend the evening trading stories; Rose was pleased to know the Doctor was getting on just fine in the other universe without her. She knew he would, but there was a still a part of her that worried after him. It ached to think of him, to recall all those happy memories with him. Some of them made her smile and some of them made her cry.

“Cats?” Amy asks, “Nurses who are _cats_?”

“Yeah,” Rose laughs, “and we met the Face of Boe too.”

“Never heard of him,” Amy tells her, “I married King Henry the eighth by accident once.”

“Really?” Rose asks with a grin, “How’d you manage _that_?”

“Wasn’t paying attention and somebody was talking and I said yes and then…” Amy shrugs, gesturing with her hands. “ _Opps_.” Amy frowns at the ceiling and looks at Rose as something else she mentioned recalls a memory from her own past, “The angels are the reason Rory and I got stuck in the 1940s.”

“Somebody’s messing with their genetics,” Rose tells her, “they can move while being watched.”

“Well that’s rubbish,” Amy scowls, “What happened to the one that was in your backyard?”

“Pete couldn’t find it,” Rose shrugs, “I think it was just bringing me a message is all…did its job and left.”

Amy frowns thoughtfully, “Who do you think’s behind it all?”

“Not a clue,” Rose sighs and yawns, “I think I need to get to bed—I’m exhausted.”

“Same,” Amy agrees as she stands and stretches, “see you in the morning.”

 

                                           

* * *

 

 

              

 

               “ _Ow_!” Amy yelps, glowering at the Master, “That _hurt_.”

“We’ll if you’d stop fidgeting,” the Master says, rolling his eyes.

“I’m not _fidgeting_ ,” Amy retorts, frowning at him.

Rose finds it amusing to watch Amy and the Master go round and round. Amy’s all attitude and the Master is all sarcasm; their conversations were bound to interesting. The Master doesn’t seem to like her very much; Rose guesses it’s because Amy calls him out on things. Amy can be kind but she calls it like she sees it. Rory on the other hand, will assert himself when cornered or when he really feels like he needs to say something. The Master pays him no mind most the time, but has recently discovered Rory’s use in TARDIS repair.

That’s not to say Rose is getting out of her share of TARDIS chores.

“I’m not picking up anything other than chronon energy,” the Master scowls at the screen in front of him. The lights in the med-bay are bright overhead, making the room look ivory. “That’s typical for anyone who travels with the Doctor.” He scans Rory too and finds the same thing, the same dark expression on his face as he stares at the screen. “I give up,” he throws his hands up in the air in a wild gesture and stands, “you two are an anomaly.”

“Who are you _callin_ ’ an anomaly?” Amy snorts as she steps around to look at the screen too, “I know physics—learned as much travelling with the Doctor. Have you tried scanning for temporal displacement? What if the timelines are being shifted because of a paradox?”

“I doubt it,” he frowns at the screen, “it would be obvious—I would notice. I’m a Time Lord, I’d _sense_ it.”

“Triple the gamma,” Rose suggests, “Scan for temporal feedback. If they’ve been travelling recently it’ll show up on the scanners.”

The Master pauses, glances up at Rose with a look of bewilderment, “You know physics?”

“Quantum physics,” Rose tells him, “I got a B in basic physics—was never really good at it honestly. After I came back here I went back to school and then onto University. I felt like if I was gonna work for Torchwood I need to get my degree.”

“In _quantum physics_?” The Master looks baffled—maybe even surprised. He hadn’t suspected Rose knew anything about the sciences considering her lack of understanding when repairing the TARDIS. Some humans had a knack for this sort of thing and some didn’t. Rose was hardly human though—he wasn’t sure what she was—but it wasn’t entirely human.

“Political Science,” Rose grins at him as she paces the room, “I minored in physics. I wanted to do both but couldn’t decide. I chose political science because I was better at it. I figure all those speech classes and knowledge of the legal system would help me in Torchwood if I ever had to go before the press—which I have on several occasions.”

“ _I_ learned it while trapped in a different time stream—didn’t have much else to do anyways—I spent over twenty years waiting for the Doctor to come back and get me,” Amy frowns at the memory like it was something she didn’t like to recall. “It’s real vague now…”

“Probably because the previous timeline was erased— _back on topic_ ,” the Master interjects pointedly, “I’m willing to guess they’ve been travelling—no point in looking.”

“He’s right,” Amy agrees as she looks at Rose, “If were here that means we’ve clearly been time-travelling. Probably with the Doctor I bet.”

“So very typical of him to _accidently_ dump his companions off at the closest convenient planet,” The Master rolls his eyes, “He certainly _loves_ to cart you around with him but is entirely negligent at times.”

“However we got here I’m sure he didn’t mean for this to happen,” Amy argues as she looks at the Master, “He wouldn’t just leave us.”

“Oh he _would_ ,” the Master says knowingly and Rose shoots him a pointed look to keep quiet.

“You think the Doctor’s in trouble?” Amy asks Rose, “you think that’s how we ended up here?”

“I don’t know,” Rose frowns thoughtfully, “no way to find out until we can get you back into the other universe.”

“Even if he is,” Rory tells Amy, “I’m sure he’ll be alright—he’s managed through worse.”

“And if he is,” the Master sneers at the thought, “I imagine we’ll be having another _guest_ soon.”

The idea of the Doctor coming here sent Rose’s head spinning. She wasn’t sure if she’d be happy to see him or not. Part of her wanted to see him again desperately, and the other half that was more logical dictated that if he did come here, it would not go well for Rose.

Then as if on cue, the cloister bell began to ring.

 

                                           

* * *

 

 

 

“What’s wrong? What is it?” Rose shouts as she runs after the Master for the console room. Amy and Rory run behind her.

The Master reaches the console first, bringing up the monitor, “I don’t know—I don’t know what could set off this kind of temporal distortion—it’s _huge_.” Whatever it was, the magnitude of his disruption was rippling through every timeline in the universe.

“ _Bloody hell_ ,” Rose gasps as she watches the ripples glide across the screen. “What do you suppose could cause this?”

“Something bad,” the Master frowns at the screen, “something _powerful_.”

“Where’s the epicenter?” Amy interjects, “If we can trace it back we can find out where it started.”

“Looks like,” the Master squints at the screen, “Somewhere in eight-hundred and fifty BC.”

“Blimey,” Rose blinks at the screen, glowers up at the center console before leaning across the dash to switch off the cloister bell, “Better.”

“Yeah,” Amy agrees, “My ears were starting to ring.”

“We’re going,” The Master abruptly announces, “Anyone not coming needs to get out _now_.”

“Manners, aren’t you?” Amy quirks cheekily.

“I’m serious,” the Master says as he dashes around the console, “If you going then strap in.”

“Right,” Rory says, “We’re all going then.”

“ _Really_?” The Master looks at them all—almost appalled, “I’m going to have to cart _all_ of you around?”

“Believe it or not,” Amy tells him, “I can handle myself—and so can Rory.”

“I go where you go,” Rose shrugs.

The Master rolls his eyes, “This should be fun.”

 

                                       

* * *

 

 

 

When they land, the TARDIS lurches sharply, whining unhappily. “She’s frightened,” The Master says, glancing up at the center console, “I don’t like this.” He sets the parking brake and grabs his coat, swinging it on as he walks towards the door, “You three— _don’t wander off_.”

“Doctor stopped bothering to tell us that years ago,” Amy tells him pointedly as all three followed him outside.

It’s bright outside wherever they are, and very, _very_ noisy. Rose squints into the sunlight, the sounds of cheering and the smell of dust in the air. When her vision clears, her eyes widen, horror and awe etched across her features.

“Are we in _ancient Rome_?” Rory suddenly asks, turning in a circle to gaze around him.

“In a _gladiator_ ring?” Rose blinks at the surrounding crowd high above them, the stone circular walls stacked high behind them.

“Yes to both questions,” The Master says as he gazes at the shocked crowd.

“Um—can they see the TARDIS?” Rose asks quickly, turning to look back where they came from. She frowns when she realizes that the TARDIS is gone.

“I’ve turned on the cloaking device,” The Master explains when he sees her bewildered expression, “I didn’t know where we’d land—it’s a good thing I did too…” he trails off, notices the man with a rather big sword headed their way.

“Right,” Rory says, “I’ve got this.”

“He’s got this,” Amy agrees, though it sounds like she’s trying to convince herself more than anyone else.

“That’s a _roman gladiator_ ,” the Master hisses, trying to catch Rory before he darts forward, lunging towards the spear on the ground.

“Yeah,” Rory shouts back, “and I lived through the roman empire—two thousand years.”

“It’s true,” Amy agrees, “I got locked in the Pandorica.”

“ _The Pandorica_?” The Master sputters, “Your _joking_?”

“Nope,” Amy tells him, her eyes still on Rory as he ducks and dodges.

“The Pandorica is a _fairy-tale_ ,” the Master tells her pointedly.

“Not anymore—Rory be careful!” Amy shouts, panic on her features when Rory’s opponent nearly nicks him with his blade.

“ _I’ve got this_ ,” Rory says aloud to himself, “I’ve got this.”

“He’s pretty good,” Rose comments lightly, her eyes following Rory.

“Yeah,” Amy agrees, “Spent two thousand years following the Pandorica around protecting me.”

When Rory gets one good swing in, he knocks the other man out. The crowd cheers and he pretends to cheer with them, though the expression on his face is less than triumphant. The three companions dart behind the Master when the captain of the guard comes out into the ring to greet them.

“I am the Master,” he begins slowly, ignoring Rose who’s currently peering at the captain of the guard around one shoulder, “and these are my servants—he is my competitor.”

“Uh…Hello,” Rory waves weakly.

“Hi,” Rose and Amy chime in simultaneously.

Not that Rose was going to let him get away with calling her his _servant_ —neither was Amy.

“Master,” the captain greets him, “we are not in the habit of guests walking freely out into the ring during battle.”

“Forgive me,” the Master smiles charmingly, “I only wanted to have my servant begin his trials.”

“Of course,” the captain clears his throat, glances back up at the mahogany canopy farther up into the colosseum where the nobles sit. After a moment, he nods and looks back at the Master, “You are forgiven—please exit the ring and take your seats.”

“ _Go_ ,” The Master murmurs and nods to the others pointedly.

 

                                         

* * *

 

 

               They rush through the crowd as quickly as they can without attracting attention. Once at a safe distance, the three companions catch their breath while the Master scans the surrounding area with his screwdriver. “The energy signal is coming from over there,” he says, pointing towards a group of stone buildings in the distance.

He darts off again and Amy glowers at his retreating back. “Again with the _running_.”

“You didn’t have to come!” The Master shouts back as he darts through the crowded streets. The others follow hastily, though the Master being what he is, proves to be difficult to keep up with. Dodging carts and animals, people and street vendors, they make it to the building in the distance in good time. The Master doesn’t wait to be invited—typical—but rather bursts through the door with his companions hot on his heels.

“I feel like we should have knocked yeah?” Amy calls over the crowd in the building to Rose.

“Probably,” Rose says back and slams to a halt when the Master stops, nearly toppling into him.

“It was here,” he tells them, “it was here but it’s gone now—it’s _moving_.” He turns in a circle before looking at the others, “Let’s split up, Rose _screwdriver_ —you know what to do.”

“Right,” Rose nods and nods to Amy as the Master darts off, “Amy you come with me—Rory go with him.”

“Oh why do _I_ have to babysit him?” The Master calls to Rose petulantly.

“I can’t take _both_ of them with me!” Rose calls back with a sigh.

 “Ok, just saying,” Rory interjects, “I _am_ a grown man—I don’t need a babysitter.”

“Why do _you_ get the smart one?” The Master stops, scowling at her.

“I _can_ hear you, you know,” Rory comments idly.

“Rory’s good,” Rose gives him a thumbs up, “He’s great—give him a chance!” She watches the Master roll his eyes and scowl at Rory before darting off, not bothering to wait for him.

“Come on,” Rose nods to Amy as she pulls out her own screwdriver, “Let’s looks around.”

 

                                                         

* * *

 

 

               The building they’re in, appears to be art gallery. Rose and Amy wind their ways around sculptures and painted pottery, between burnished gold bowls hammered and engraved, around water fountains the span of an entire room.

“You think they spend all day just doing this?” Amy asks as they pass between two sculptures.

“No,” Rose tells her, “Rome is so much more than just artwork—read your history.”

“Rory told me some of it,” Amy says, pausing to look at a statue, “Said it was a lot of military…artwork…music…he said their irrigation systems were ingenious.”

“Yep,” Rose nods as she eyes one of the fountains, “if not a little unsanitary sometimes—some of their plagues and viruses came from the irrigation systems that ran beneath the cities.” Rose pauses along the way, frowning at something across the room, “Hey….is that…?”

Amy steps up beside her, frowns as she follows Rose’s line of vision. Her eyes widen in horror, “ _Cyberman_.”

“In…a _toga_ …” Rose stares, she can’t help it.

“Decoration?” Amy suggests, quirking a brow. The cyberman in question appeared to me immobile, more like the statues in the room.

“Maybe,” Rose edges away, pulling Amy with her, “I don’t want to get its attention.”

“ _Dalek_ ,” Amy breathes, freezing beside Rose, “That’s a Dalek over there.”

Rose scans the room, frowning as her eyes catch the gleam of round bronzed metal, flashes of it peeking from behind white tapestries curtains whenever the wind catches them. “We need to go… _now_.”

“This is what happened when the Pandorica opened,” Amy tells Rose nervously, “Every species in the universe was there.”

“How are they _here_?” Rose hisses nervously as they leave the room, searching for the Master and Rory, “We’re in a different universe.”

“You said there were _holes_ remember?” Amy tells her, “Maybe they came through those holes.”

“Maybe,” Rose agrees as she and Amy work their way through the crowd where they spot the Master staring out one of the windows.

When he sees Rose, he catches her by the elbow and pulls her towards the window, “What do you see?” He asks, pointing outside, down into the courtyard below.

“Water fountains…people…. _an ood_?” Rose sputters, certain she imagined it. Blinking she looks again and there it continues to stand, hovering by the water fountain.

“There’s cyberman and Daleks in the _other_ room,” Amy interjects pointedly.

“Why would they all be gathering here?” Rose frowns as she looks at the Master.

“Not the Pandorica, that’s for sure,” Amy murmurs more to herself then to anyone else.

“There after whatever’s drawing all that energy from the timelines,” the Master scowls, “Like _vultures_.” He turns and taps Amy on the nose as he passes, “No _fairy tales_.”

“He doesn’t like fairy tales,” Rose shrugs as Amy looks at her questioningly before following along behind him.

“Does he like anything?” Amy quirks as they go.

“They make no sense, they’re illogical and they’re complete and absolute _rubbish_ ,” The Master tells them both as they twist through the crowd.

“I’m pretty sure my Husband would beg to differ,” Amy replies cheekily.

“Yeah,” Rory chimes in.

The Master stops in a room at the far end of the building, his screwdriver humming quietly as he searches. Rose grins cheekily at him when he hears the noise her own screwdriver makes. “I think the TARDIS thought it’d be funny.”

“Not funny,” he mutters and turns his back to her, poking and prodding random things in the room.

“Bit grumpy, isn’t he?” Amy asks, looking at a burnished metal pot curiously.

“Always,” Rose sighs, looking around the room until she spots something curious on a stand across the room. “Oi… _that_ looks particularly non-Earth.”

“Where?” The Master turns, following her gaze. He strides across the room, scanning the circular gold device. He squints at the engraved writing on it, blinks twice and staggers backwards like he’s been completely spooked.

“What is it?” Rose blurts out, catching him by the shoulder, “What’s _wrong_?”

“That can’t be here,” he breathes, looking at the odd-looking metal thing on the stand, “It _can’t_ be.” He straightens, clearing his throat as he steps forward, squinting at it, “This should be locked up in the Time Vaults…it should _never_ have gotten this far…”

“What _is_ it?” Rose asks slowly.

“The _Neverwhen_ …” he says in quiet awe.

“What’s it do?” Rose asks curiously.

“Its…” he trails off at the sound of screaming from the other room.

_Exterminate!_

“Ah,” Rory interjects at the sounds from the other room, “I think we should be _running_ now…”

The Master turns towards the device on the stand and pulls a handkerchief from his pocket, carefully wrapping it in the silk material before turning with it in his hands, cradling it carefully, “We have to be careful,” he tells Rose pointedly, “not to set it off.” He jerks to the right, narrowly dodging a blast of blue light as a Cyberman appears in the door, arm outstretched.

“Bloody hell!” Rose yelps and grabs Amy and Rory, pulling them after her as they race behind the Master towards the front door.

“ _Don’t drop that_!” Rose shouts at the Master.

“We’ll I didn’t bloody _plan_ on it!” He snarls at her, looking outraged that she’d suggest such a thing.

They duck and dodge random blasts of light from every direction, Rose yelping as one burns a hole in the sleeve of her coat, “ _Ow_!”

“Don’t stop!” Amy shouts, yanking Rose along with her.

Rose’s arm burns but the blast didn’t hit her, only grazed her arm. That was far to close however, it brings back bad memories.  “Look out!” Rose screams, hand outstretched when the Master slams to a halt, nearly toppling into a Dalek that suddenly appears in the doorway off to the side. He stumbles backwards and trips, the Neverwhen flying up into the air…

Everything happens so quickly Rose doesn’t have time to process it.

“No!” Rose shouts, diving forward to catch it.

At the same time, she watches it clatter to the floor, holds her breath with the horror racing through her blood. The Master wears a similar expression, both diving for the Neverwhen just as a Cyberman bends down to reach for it.

“ _No_ don’t touch that---…” the Master is cut off as the Neverwhen lights up, radiating brilliant gold light. Suddenly Rose is blinded by it; the room is flooded with it….

And then everything changes.


	8. Neverwhen Part Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own any of it or make any money from any of it, all of it belongs to those who created Doctor Who.

The first thing Rose Tyler hears when she wakes is the sound of classical music. That’s odd too, because there in ancient Rome and they didn’t have classical music yet. Rose blinks, the white lights looming overhead blind her momentarily. She realizes she’s lying in the med-bay, and sits up. How did she get here? “Hello?” Rose calls nervously. How did she get back into the TARDIS? She slides off the medical bed and walks barefoot through the halls towards the console room. The desktop has changed again, now displaying a more traditional TARDIS theme. White walls, white console, silver panels. “Hello?” Rose calls again, peering into the console room curiously.

“Ah,” the Master says in a voice that is definitely _not_ his voice, “You’re awake.”

Rose freezes, stares at him with wide eyes. “Who are you?” she asks, stepping backwards into the hall behind her. There was a stranger in the TARDIS and every alarm bell was going off in her head.

He quirks a brow, “It’s me….” He frowns at her retreating form, “What’s wrong with you?”

“ _Who are you_?” Rose demands, fumbling for her screwdriver— _where was it_?

He stares for about ten seconds, rolls his eyes and with a sigh he sets the wrench in his hands aside. Stepping around the console he removes the vinyl apron he wears and tosses it over the railing, wiping his hands off with a towel he left on the pilot seat. “Rose Tyler,” he begins slowly, “I’ve been living with you on this miserable planet for months now—is this some sort of human deficiency? Do you have an issue with memory loss?”

Rose stares at him, from the thick black hair on his head, to the carefully combed black beard, to the black velvet clothes embroidered with silver leaves along the collar and sleeves. No, Rose Tyler did not know this man and yet…

“ _Harry_?” she blinks, thoroughly confused.

“ _Who_?” he frowns at her, “No…perhaps I should have you scanned? I know how delicate the human mind is…” he sneers a little in disgust at the thought, “have you ingested something perhaps? You humans—you’ll eat _anything_.” He sighs before regarding her thoughtfully, “ _I am the Master_.”

What the hell was going on here?

_A flash of gold light…_

_The Neverwhen…_

“Oh,” Rose blinks at him, wide eyed, “Oh!”

He stares at her with a look of weary exasperation before saying, “Oh my.” He heaves a sigh and starts towards her, motioning to head down the hall behind her, “Come along then—to the medical bay. I suppose I should sort out what’s wrong with you _now_. You humans, you’re so _fragile_.”

“The Neverwhen!” Rose blurts aloud as he approaches her.

He freezes, “What did you say?”

“The cyberman,” Rose blurts out quickly, “He triggered the Neverwhen!”

He stares at her with a mixture of concern and bewilderment before shaking off the thought, “You’ve hit your head, haven’t you? I thought as much. Rose Tyler, I don’t know how you know of the Neverwhen, but I assure you it’s hardly going to be in _this_ universe.”

“We were in ancient Rome,” Rose tells him, “You had a different face—and we were chasing the Neverwhen, trying to keep it away from the cybermen and the Daleks who’d found it.”

He frowns as he stares at her, but says nothing.

“What does the Neverwhen _do_?” Rose asks pointedly.

“It creates alternate realities,” he says slowly, “shifts timelines…sends them into a state of flux.”

“We’re in an alternate reality…” Rose begins thoughtfully, “and you’ve got a different face—were somehow back in the TARDIS—and…where’s Amy and Rory?”

“In the house,” he watches her thoughtfully with a frown on his lips, “watching TV the last time I saw them.”

“How’d we get back home?” Rose blinks at him and darts for the doors. “How do I open these?” Rose asks, glowering at the set of double white doors that lack anything that could identify as a door handle.

The Master watches her for a moment before flipping a switch on the console, watches the door swing open. “Like _that_.”

Rose shoves her way out, darts across the lawn and into the house. Everything looked the same but…

“Amy! Rory!” Rose bursts into the house, “Mum!”

“What?” Amy says from the couch, frowning at her, “Rose what’s wrong?”

“Uh…” she stares at Amy, Amy who was no longer a grown woman but a twelve-year-old sitting on her couch watching cartoons. In the chair across from her sits a boy around the same age. “ _Rory_?”

“Yeah?” he watches her curiously, confused.

“Rose what’s wrong sweetheart?” Jackie Tyler says, walking out into the living room.

“Mum,” Rose blinks, drinking in the sight of her Mum, “your _hair_.”

“Yeah,” Jackie says self-consciously at the look of shock on Roses face, patting her hair lightly, “What’s wrong with it?”

“Your hairs _brown_ ,” Rose blurts out, blinking at her—never in her wildest dreams did she ever imagine her Mum coloring her hair brown.

Jackie frowns at her worriedly and then looks at the Master as he steps in from the patio, “Did she hit her head or something? What have you done to her now?”

“I haven’t done _anything_ Jackie Tyler,” he glowers at her Mum—even in an alternate universe he can’t stand her. He catches Rose by the elbow and pulls her back outside, “I’ll sort it out.”

 

                                         

* * *

 

 

“What the bloody hell is going on!?” Rose all but shouts at him, “My Mum…and Amy and Rory…and _you_!” She frowns, pausing mid-rant as something else occurs to her, “Everyone else has changed…why haven’t I? How come I’m aware of what’s happening and nobody else is?”

He ponders her for a moment before replying, “I’m not entirely sure.”

“So,” Rose replies, “another question to be solved later—how do we shut this thing down?”

“We’d need to find the engine room—if we’re really in the Neverwhen,” he replies simply.

“We are,” Rose presses, “Where would we find the engine room?”

“Who knows,” he tells her, “It’s the _Neverwhen_ —it doesn’t come with a _map_.”

“Alright,” Rose says aloud, debating the situation, “I’ve no screwdriver—you’ve no _clue_ ,” Rose rubs her face tiredly, “We’re all screwed.”

He watches her for a moment before asking, “I think I have it.” he snaps his fingers as he walks, like he’s got an idea. Rose watches him start towards the TARDIS. “Rose Tyler,” he calls back, “Come along.”

 

                                     

* * *

 

 

               Inside the TARDIS, she watches him circle the console, and feels the anger burning in her blood when he starts checking the wiring and the relay cufflinks. “I haven’t shocked myself stupid,” Rose growls, “I’m fine—you’re the one who’s all mixed up.” She huffs, struggling to contain her temper.

“We can’t possibly be in the Neverwhen,” he tells her pointedly, “It’s simply impossible.”

Maybe it was the stress of what’s happening—maybe it was the patronizing tone of his voice or the expression on his face—Rose isn’t sure what caused it when she thinks back to this moment—but it pushes her right over the edge.

“Alright _listen_ ,” she snaps, glowering at him hotly, “I don’t have time for your megalomaniacal _bullshit_. You’re gonna stop callin’ me an _ape_ , ya hear me? My name is Rose— _not_ ape—and I expect you to treat me like a person. You want respect? You show _me_ respect first. Secondly, I don’t know what made you the way you are—I really don’t. I don’t really know all that much about you honestly, _you never say_. If I were to take a wild guess, I’d say it’s because somebody screwed you over in the past and it hurt you and you never really got over it.” Rose knows that half of what she’s saying is probably bubbling up from previous conversations, that the current version staring at her with what looked like mild contempt probably had no idea what she was on about—but she didn’t honestly care right then.  “What I need right now, is for you to put your _Time Lord_ pants on—cuse I really need a Time Lord right now to help me shut down the Neverwhen and get out of this bloody mess!”

He’s staring at her and says nothing for so long, she’s debating on running for the door. She may have overdone it; she may have overreacted a bit. “Alright,” he says with a sigh as he starts for the door, “Let’s get to it then.”

 

                                                     

* * *

 

 

               She follows along beside him in the street, keeping her distance cautiously. She doesn’t trust him not to turn on her—this version of him was different—this version of him was less sarcasm and more seriousness. Rose can’t help but stare at his clothes—black velvet—with embroidered collar and sleeves.

“Poofy sleeves huh?” Rose asks suddenly to break the silence.

“What’s wrong them?” He frowns at her and then takes in his clothes, “Ah—Traken clothing. Not really my personal preference.”

“You’ve got a beard,” Rose says, trying to hide her smile.

“I’ve had a beard many times over by now Rose Tyler,” he sniffs indignantly.

“So…where are you in your timeline right now?” Rose asks curiously as they walk along the street.

“It depends,” he says slowly, hesitantly, “where are you?”

“I’ve never seen this version of you before,” Rose tells him. “Yet you know what’s going on right now in the present…how’s that work then?”

“The timelines are twisted and fused together,” he explains, “Imagine two timelines, side by side. Two thin gold strands of light that fuse together when they touch…. it’s something like that.”

“Sounds like a paradox,” Rose tells him.

“It almost is,” he says casually, “except the Neverwhen can stabilize it because this world we’re in—it isn’t _real_. It is and it isn’t…. the Neverwhen was designed as prison of sorts. It was used in the Time War—it’s part of the omega arsenal.”

“So your saying…we’re stuck _inside_ that metal CD thing?” Rose quirks a brow.

“Yes,” he tells her with a sour look as he turns away, “and no…it generates a field of chronon energy around it’s prisoners—alters reality and the timelines therein.”

“And yet it didn’t do anything to me,” Rose replies thoughtfully.

“How would you know?” he asks her, “what makes you think it hasn’t done anything to you? You wouldn’t know if it had.”

“I knew I was in the Neverwhen, I also knew that fact when nobody else did,” Rose tells him pointedly.

“Good point,” he stops, holding up a silver looking device he pulls from his pocket, “ah, here we are.”

“What are we looking for?” Rose asks curiously.

“A signal—we need get higher.” He nods towards a sky rise in the distance.

 

                                                   

* * *

 

 

 

Stairs.

They climb lots of them.

Rose wasn’t particularly pleased and the Master hardly seemed to notice. He refused to use an elevator, said it would mess with his equipment. So, eighty flights of stairs later, Rose is struggling to remain dignified and not crawl on her knees behind him up the last flight of steps.

He’d never let her live it down.

He carries on like he doesn’t even notice her exhaustion and she follows along behind him, glowering at his back the whole way. When they reach the roof, Rose has had quiet enough and drops right where she is, sitting on the ground to watch him work. When he notices at last, he looks exasperated and turns away.

“I’ve forget how little stamina you humans have,” he comments idly.

“Always with the insults,” Rose replies, “you can’t just _not_ insult me, can you? You’d probably implode or something.”

“It is a fact,” he tells her without looking at her, “not an insult Rose Tyler—I’m merely observing your lack in stamina and endurance compared to my own species.”

“You’re gonna be observing my foot up your arse if you can’t observe me less,” Rose tells him pointedly.

“I imagine you weren’t this mouthy with the Doctor,” he comments.

“I never needed to be,” Rose says flatly, “he understood when to keep his mouth shut and not point out every little flaw he sees.”

“It was just _merely_ an observation,” he sneers at her, frustrated.

“Yeah,” Rose tells him, climbing to her feet to walk over and stand beside him near the edge of the building, “but you don’t need to point it out.”

They stand silently, staring out at the city.

“I’m sorry,” Rose says after a minute, “I know sometimes you don’t mean to be rude.”

Instead of replying he holds the silver device in his hands up higher and squint at it in the fading sunlight. “There’s an energy signature across the city near the river it looks like, that might be the engine room.” When she doesn’t answer, he looks at her, following her gaze across the city. “Yes—flying cars. You’ve never seen one, have you?”

“I have,” Rose says, “That’s not right though,” she tells him, “We’re not technologically advanced enough yet for that.”

“Timelines are jumbled up,” the Master explains, “in the Neverwhen, sometimes a species can be advanced by thousands of years, and some…some get sent back into the dark ages.” He puts the silver device back in his pocket and glances at her, “shall we?”

“Oh yeah---…” she doesn’t even get to finish the sentence as she’s turning to follow him back across the roof. One minute she’s standing there the next a scream is ripped from her throat when he shoves her off the side of the building. One hand claws at the concrete and steel of the wall, her feet grappling for footing. Her other hand is held by the wrist by one of his hands, and he’s watching her thoughtfully.

“Rose Tyler,” he begins slowly, “let me make something very clear to you. You don’t know me; you don’t know anything about me. Never presume to know me at all, do I make myself clear? If you _ever_ threaten me again…” he lets his point hang in the air, watching Rose flail against the side of the building.

Rose is all but kicking herself for letting her guard down.

She’d thought perhaps he was going to let it go, but he didn’t. He waited till she wasn’t expecting it and shoved her off a building to make a point. He pulls her back up—it’s remarkable how strong he is, the Doctor never let on how strong his people really are—and she claws her way back over the side and gasps for air. “You….” She grits her teeth, biting back her anger. “You know I’m not lying now,” she points out, “Why not just toss me over the side and be done with it?” She stands and stares at him thoughtfully, the pieces clicking into place as she watches him watch her, “why did you bring me along at all? You knew I wasn’t lying…you checked yourself. You can see the proof of it all around you—so why bring me along?” She stares at him for a moment before it clicks, “You _need_ me, don’t you?”

“You’re the only one who can see the engine room,” he tells her flatly as he turns towards the stairs, Rose following him, “the Neverwhen couldn’t trap you, so instead your just here, wandering about. You can leave any time you want—if you know where the door is.”

“So the doors in the engine room,” Rose says aloud thoughtfully, “and I’m the only one who can shut down the Neverwhen.”

“Exactly,” he tells her begrudgingly as they go, “won’t be difficult—a few levers I imagine at most.”

“Lovely,” Rose says dryly as they go.

 

                                       

* * *

 

 

 

“What’s that?” Rose asks suddenly as they step out onto the street. Across the way stands a man, conflicted and alone. He turns in a circle; his clothing is strange. He’s clearly not from Earth or so Rose surmises.

“A Dalek,” the Master answers slowly, “a Dalek before the Dalek’s were Daleks.”

Rose stares because she can’t help it, struggling to wrap her mind around what she’s seeing, “That Dalek’s…human.”

“Not human,” the Master corrects her, “he’s not from Earth—he’s from Skaro. This is what the Daleks were before Davros made them into what they are now.”

The man stops and turns, his gaze on them.

“You recall what I told you about how the timelines are all jumbled up?” he asks suddenly, catching her by the elbow as he starts down the street at a quick pace.

“Yes,” Rose stumbles as she hurries alongside him to keep up.

_Exterminate!_

“Did he just yell exterminate?” Rose blurts out, her gaze swinging back towards the man in the distance behind them.

“ _Yes_ ,” he tells her, “he’s still a Dalek—just not canned.”

“Cyberman,” Rose points at the woman across the street, sitting on the sidewalk looking confused. Rose can tell just by the way she watches the people around her that in her head, she believes she is a cyberman. “No suit…just…it’s all in her head now…” Rose frowns, “That’s horrible…” Rose recalls the people who vaguely recall themselves when the Doctor shuts down the receptors in the suit that prevented memory and pain. It sent them all into madness—she can’t even imagine what that woman is feeling right now.

A sharp cry of pain—or…something, startles her.

Beside her, the Master is doubled over, gritting his teeth in agony. There is something like an agonized growl rumbling in his chest, his body flashes with blinding blue light. “uh…” she stares, steps away from him and watches him cautiously. “you changed your face again.”

“Oh course I have,” he sneers at her as he straightens.

“Those are the clothes I found you in,” Rose points out, noting the faded black sweater and old jeans he’s wearing, “this version of you…”

He cracks his neck as he regards her, “we have to keep moving.”

“Are you dying?” Rose asks him, fighting to keep the alarm from her voice.

“Yes,” he says, “and I’m absolutely bloody _starving_ —this body…it’s literally caving in on itself.”

“Why do you keep flashing like that?” Rose asks, leaning away from him wearily. He’s been lighting up like a Christmas tree every couple of minutes for the last two blocks or so.

“Body’s scrambling for energy,” his eyes shift towards a restaurant across the street. “Need energy to _burn_.” He winces, gritting his teeth, smacking the side of his head. “Noise—always noise—one, two, three, four…”

“The drums,” Rose stares, “you can still hear them.”

“ _Yes_ ,” he hisses at her, yells in something like anger or pain or maybe even both when his body flashes again. She watches him charge across the street, shoving the door open to the restaurant he’d been looking at. She rushes after him, hears the screams.

“What are you---…” Rose expects to find him terrorizing the patrons of the restaurant, instead she finds him in the kitchen at the back, stuffing his face.

“Um…” she watches him gobble up anything he can grab, “Hungry are you?”

“Famished,” he replies, “you humans…so much food…so much…so much…” he grits his teeth again, “why won’t it _stop_!?”

“That loud is it?” Rose grimaces as she watches him eat, his fingers sticky with food. He hops over the counter when he’s done and starts for the door.

“Exhausting is what it is,” he tells her pointedly as they step out onto the street.

 

                                           

* * *

 

 

              

               Reaching the river proves difficult. Apart from random Daleks in the street, the Neverwhen has defensive strategies of its own to defend the engine room.  Anything from laser cannons to time-locks, they spend a good hour dodging them.

“It’s me,” the Master says suddenly, “it thinks I’m trying to escape.” He’s changed his face yet again. This time he looked like he had before and yet…

“Why’s your hair brown?” Rose says aloud, blinking up at him. He looked just as he did when they first met and yet his hair was now a different color.

“Different regeneration,” he tells her flatly. He seems less tense and yet there’s tension in his shoulders and a funny tick in his jaw that twitches whenever he grinds his teeth together—or whenever he’s irritated. Rose can see the difference in the way he sets his jaw.

Since when was she so aware of him anyways?

“Drums?” Rose quirks a brow.

“Loud as ever,” he tells her sourly, “do you want to hear them?”

Rose stops and stares at him, “You’d show me?”

“If you want,” he tells her, “I imagine you’re curious about them.”

“Almost flattered me,” Rose tells him cheekily, trying to ease the tension between them—he shoved her off a building earlier— “do you tell all the women that?”

“You’d actually let me show you?” he quirks a brow, “you believe me?”

Rose shrugs, “why the hell not?”

“Just like that,” he says as he steps towards her, “you’d let me in your head?”

“Um…” Rose pauses thoughtfully.

“Thought so,” he sneers at her and turns away, “The engine room is this way.”

 

                               

* * *

 

 

“It’s a force field,” Rose says, gazing up at the enormous bubble surrounding what Rose thought might be the engine room on the other side of it.

“I can’t _see_ it,” he tells her with a frown, “you’re the only one who can. All I see is open fields and the river.” He pauses for a beat before adding, “all you need to do is step through it.”

“Problem,” Rose says as she peers at the force field, “I can’t read Gallifreyan. What if everything’s in Gallifreyan?”

He stares at the force field and says nothing for a long while—that muscle in his jaw is tensing again. “I know.”

“ _So_ ….?” Rose quirks a brow.

“I’m going to have to teach you it,” he looks perfectly displeased about it too.

“Doesn’t Gallifreyan have like, one-hundred-and-twenty-eight letters in its alphabet?” Rose asks him curiously, “You won’t be able to teach me it in a day.”

“No,” he agrees slowly, “but time is suspended here. Nothing changes here, nobody grows old, nobody regenerates. Technically I’ve got _centuries_ to teach you.” He turns towards her, extending out his hands towards her temples, “but I’m just not that patient.”

“ _Whoa_ ,” Rose says, catching his hands to halt his progress, “what are you _doing_?”

He yanks them from her grasp just as quickly, glowering hotly at her—and maybe just a little bit scandalized. “Don’t touch me!” Rose could swear there was a blush to his cheeks.

“Sorry,” Rose blinks at him, watches the way he rubs his hands against his pant legs. “What’s that about?”

“My people are…sensitive in their hands—psychically speaking,” he tells her quietly without meeting her gaze, “it’s just a bit intimate.”

“The Doctor used to hold my hand all the time,” Rose tells him, bewildered.

“Yes well,” the Master replies just as quickly, “the Doctor’s a _flirt_.” He levels his gaze on her and extends his hands out again, “Don’t touch me—and hold still…I’m only popping the information into your head and Rose Tyler I swear—I’m breaking every rule my people have by doing this. I’m giving you sacred and sensitive information and if you _ever_ tell anyone about this…”

“Um,” Rose leans away from him—much to his great annoyance, “I won’t tell—promise…though…um…I don’t really like people in my head is all.”

“Not much of a choice right now,” he glowers at her.

“I shut doors and you keep out yeah?” Rose tells him pointedly, “no nosing about.”

He rolls his eyes, “I really don’t _want_ to know what’s bouncing around in that ape brain of yours,” he tells her sourly as he presses his fingers against her temples and closes his eyes.

They both gasp as one.

For Rose, there is light and sound and an incessant drumming that never stops. It gets louder and louder, drowning out all thought. Aside from that there are words and letters and song that is speech. Rose has never heard anything so beautiful—or so complex.

For the Master, there is singing—blinding beautiful song with a burning gold light that both terrifies him to his deepest self and alarms the Time Lord he is trained to be. It sounds like music, whatever it is. He’s heard it before—he’s certain of it…not sure where but…

“ _What’s in your head_?” he blurts out, yanking his hands away when he’s done downloading the information into her mind. Those words, echo through the timelines—the Doctor said those very words to him once, a long time ago.

“I dunno,” Rose grimaces, rubbing her temples, “What the bloody hell’s in _yours_?”

He’s staring at her with something like horror—fear—and maybe confusion.

“ _What are you_?” he asks slowly, quietly.

“I dunno,” Rose tells him, “Just me I suppose.”

He stares at her for a moment longer before nodding towards the force field, “Go shut it off.”

“How do we know if what you did worked?” Rose calls as she starts towards the force field.

“Oh,” he tells her as she goes, “believe me you’ll know.”

 

                             

* * *

 

 

 

Needless to say, he was right.

And yet so _very_ wrong…

“There’s like, over a hundred levers in here!” Rose shouts over the hum of the engine around her.

“Just flip the one that releases us,” he tells her pointedly, “mind that you don’t let the Daleks or the cybermen out.”

“We’re gonna leave them?” Rose blinks at him from behind the force field.

“Yes,” he tells her like it’s obvious and she’s being particularly dense at the moment, “We’re going to leave this place and leave them _here_ \--that’s what the Neverwhen is for. Now go and find the bloody switch to free us and _flip it already_.”

The engine room is a maze of control panels, levers, switches and corridors. When Rose returns to question him on it, he explains that the Neverwhen was designed to be monitored by a crew in the engine room, but since there isn’t anyone to pilot it, the Neverwhen runs on autopilot.

Rose drops down into a dust covered seat, grimaces as particles of it flutter up into the air at the motion. “Could use a bit of a clean-up in here,” she scowls and waves her hand to clear the dust away from her face. She fiddles with the controls on the panel before her, watches the screens light up in front of her. She sees Amy and Rory in the backyard of her house, circling the TARDIS, banging on the door and yelling for Rose.

They’re back to normal at least.

“Just a minute,” Rose tells them though she knows they can’t hear her. She searches the levers, finds two with a strange rectangular hole above each. When she touches the lever, there is a brilliant white-gold light that appears within.  Rose has a feeling this must be their timelines. She can hear voices, Amy and Rory’s, an assortment of different people across their timeline. The closer she gets the more clearly she can see their timelines, different places and worlds and planets. Amy on a ship in the middle of space, a star whale…Rory in ancient Rome, guarding the Pandorica. Amy and Rory living normal lives on Earth in a flat with a TARDIS blue door. Christmas’s with the Doctor---Rose is surprised—he’s all bowties and a fez, a tweed jacket.   “Ok…” she says tentatively as she flips each switch and runs back to check the screen.

They’re gone.

“Next,” Rose announces as she searches for the lever to release the Master. When she finds it—she isn’t sure what to do with it. It’s a lever alright, but above it…the timeline within…Different faces, different voices. Different worlds…there’s another blond, Rose can’t make out her name. She’s helping him on a flying ship…then he’s in Los Angeles…then he’s at the very end of the Universe…then he’s on Gallifrey…London…Unit headquarters…every place he goes, his face changes, a different regeneration. Rose is fixated but she also knows this is rude. She’s looking at something she ought not to be looking at. She reaches out and flips the lever beneath his time line. Once she checks to make sure he’s free, she turns to find her own way out. “Alright—off I pop.” She turns and looks around, “Now where the hell is the door?”

The door is at the far end of the room, and it’s labeled quiet obviously. Rose can’t help but roll her eyes and feel ridiculous.

 _Exit_.

The minute she touches the door and pushes it open, everything goes sideways and Rose feels a curious weightlessness, a blinding white light and then nothing.

 

                                                     

* * *

 

 

She jerks awake to the sound of voices—mainly Amy’s—who’s currently yelling at the Master. “What happened to her? What did you _do_?”

“Blimey your _stubborn_ ,” he scowls at her.

“Oh you don’t know the _beginning_ of stubborn if you’ve done something to her…” Amy snaps back at him.

“I’m fine,” Rose groans, blinking away the blurriness in her eyes as she sits up stiffly. “Wow.”

“Your tellin’ me,” Amy tells her, “What was that? I was a kid again…and I was in your Mum’s house and…”

“Yeah,” Rose rubs her throbbing head wearily, “I remember.”

“Where are all the Daleks?” Rory asks, turning in a circle.

“Inside the Neverwhen where we left them,” The Master explains as he carefully picks up the device on the floor near Rose’s feet. He wraps it in a handkerchief and tucks it into his pocket. “ _This_ is going into the TARDIS into a vault as soon as we get back.”

“Glad to see the back of it,” Amy says as she follows Rory and the others back outside towards the arena where the TARDIS is parked.

“So…” Rose says as she catches up to the Master, matching his stride as best she can, “How are we gonna get back into the arena?”

 

                                     

* * *

 

 

The ride back is quiet.

They managed to sneak into the arena and steal away in the TARDIS without anyone knowing luckily. Yet that wasn’t what weighed on Rose’s mind. What bothered her was her trust in the Master. He shoved her off the side of a building inside the Neverwhen—but was it fair to judge him for that? He wasn’t even himself at that moment, he was a past version of himself.

“You know,” the Master says idly, noticing her distance from him, “I remember what went on in the Neverwhen.”

“You tossed me off the side of a building,” Rose says flatly.

“I am not the Doctor,” he points out, “you seem to forget that often. I don’t take kindly to threats.”

“Neither does he,” Rose retorts, “but he doesn’t toss people off buildings when they do.”

“I don’t play nicely,” he says pointedly, “especially when being threatened.”

“Lucky it wasn’t me you tossed off a building,” Amy says idly in the background, “I’d have dragged you over the side with me.”

“And I’d have been…” Rory pauses, searching for something to add to it but finding nothing, “very cross if you did.”

“Oh,” the Master says with a look in Rory’s direction, “I’m positively _trembling_.”

“The point is,” Rose interjects, “is that now I wonder if I can trust you at all.”

“It was a past version of me,” the Master rounds on her, “what did you expect? Especially _that_ version of me—I wasn’t particularly _kind_ in those days.”

“Ooh,” Amy comments, “typical response.”

“Can you stay out of this _please_?” The Master snarls at Amy before turning to look at Rose again.

“Oh _wow_ , your saying please now,” Amy quirks a brow and looks at Rose, “sounds like that thing did him some good.”

“Amy Pond _so help me_ ,” the Master snarls as he rounds on her.

“Enough!” Rose snaps at them all, “Amy, Rory, go see what you can find in the kitchen—tea maybe?”

“Fine,” Amy pouts and turns, nodding for Rory to follow her.

“I don’t know _how_ he did it,” the Master says when Amy’s gone, “she’s completely _impossible_.”

Rose watches him circle the console for a while before she says, “So…you don’t hold hands?”

“No,” he says quietly as he works.

“Why?” Rose asks curiously.

“It’s intimate,” he says slowly, hesitantly, “on my planet…it’s like kissing….my species is highly psychic…to hold hands would be to share yourself with the other person in the most intimate way.”

“More so than sex?” Rose quirks a brow and watches the Master stumble a bit when she mentions it.

“Yes,” he chokes out, “even more so than _that_. My species…we are not the sum of our physical selves—that’s just the casing—we are what is in our minds. We are…” he pauses, struggling to explain, “we are _inside_ …what we are on the inside is who we are and to share that…” he trails off, staring at the console.

“Oh,” Rose says thoughtfully, “The Doctor holds hands with people all the time.”

“Not people of his own kind,” the Master points out, “it’s like I said…we’re all highly psychic. I don’t see the Doctor by which face he’s got on…I see him as the person inside his head. You can’t imagine—can’t even _begin_ to understand. Your species is so primitive…you fixate on the material…on the physical self…” he sighs as he rubs his eyes tiredly.

“So when you look at the Doctor,” Rose begins slowly as she tries to understand, “you see…the man on the inside…who he is…where he’s been…his body is irrelevant because you lot change faces so often…it’s just casing...the real Doctor’s on the inside?”

“Yes,” he says tentatively, “it’s something like that.”

“So you…what you look like now, that’s just the car…you’re inside the car driving?” Rose asks, watching him thoughtfully.

“Yes,” he nods, “Now you’re starting to get it.”

“So the Doctor holds hands with his companions and that’s fine because none of them are psychic,” Rose says slowly, “but if he holds _your_ hand it’d be like him snogging you?”

“Yes,” he pulls a face, “and he’s my friend—I don’t fancy him like that. Your species…all you think about is sex. Your so concerned with the reproductive instinct in your kind.”

“How is it that you lot don’t worry about it?” Rose asks, stretching out across the pilot’s seat as she watches him.

“It’s been genetically altered in our DNA,” he explains, “our children are created with looms. Reproduction as become obsolete. We have no need for it anymore.”

“So you lot don’t…” she raises both eyebrows expectantly.

“No,” he tells her sourly and rolls his eyes.

“Not even once? You lot stay virgins for your whole existence? Don’t you ever get curious?” Rose asks, watching him thoughtfully. Was he starting to blush?

“No—well— _yes_ ,” he tells her hesitantly, “I mean…of _course_ we get curious. Some of us will experiment of course…just to sate curiosity. At some point, most of my kind will do _that_ at least once during their many regeneration cycles.”

“Am I making you uncomfortable?” Rose grins at him, watching the blush creep up his neck.

“Possibly,” he tells her without meeting her gaze, “Can we talk about something else? I don’t see the point in this absurd conversation.”

“You had poofy sleeves,” Rose says after a beat.

“Oh not _that_ ,” the Master scowls and Rose laughs, his sour look making her laugh even harder.

“Were the drums always that loud?” Rose asks after a while.

“Yes,” he tells her, “miserable, weren’t they?”

“I could hardly think,” Rose says, “four beats…what does that mean?”

“The heartbeat of a Time Lord,” he explains quietly, “or at least that’s what I worked out…it was a signal sent by Rassilion at the end of the Time War…a signal I used to pull Gallifrey through the crack in the time lock surrounding it…nearly knocked Earth out of orbit doing that,” he grins cheekily at her and then it fades, “turned everyone on the planet into me using medical grid designed to heal whole planets.”

“Wow,” Rose muses, “just one of you is hard enough—but _millions_?”

“He put a stop to them in the end, the Doctor…and I used what I had left of my energy to shove Rassilion and the council back into the Time War.”

“Oi,” Amy’s voice sounds over the intercom from the kitchen, “if you lot are finished with the flirting I’ve got the tea ready.”

“Not flirting,” Rose replies aloud as she gets to her feet.

“Definitely not,” the Master agrees with a scowl as he switches the TARDIS over to autopilot and follows Rose to the kitchen.

                                     

* * *

 

 

 “She escaped the Neverwhen as expected,” the Controller says quietly, his eyes downcast. The man before him stands in the shadows, a black hooded robe, a quiet voice.

“Excellent,” his employer says thoughtfully, his gaze on the stars above, “she is more powerful than I first imagined her to be.”

“Do we extract her now?” the Controller asks him, “I can have a team ready for extraction within the hour.”

“Not yet,” he says slowly, “I want to see what she does with the next test,” he tells the other man thoughtfully.

“Yes of course my lord,” the Controller bows respectfully, “as you wish.”

“Leave me,” he waves the controller off as he stares across the open field at a house in the distance, a faceless man in a black hood. Across the field stands the Tyler residence—the home of Bad Wolf herself.

And he was coming to find her.

 

 


	9. The Pantheon of Discord

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own any of it or make any money from any of it, all of it belongs to those who created Doctor Who.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When one of the Torchwood team goes missing, only Rose can find him.

_Rose no, what have you done?_

_I am the Badwolf…_

_I scattered the words through space and time to remind myself…_

_I see every atom of your existence…and I divide them…._

_Rose!_

_My lonely Doctor…_

_Rose!_

“ _Rose_!” Amy says, shaking her arm. “You were having a nightmare.”

Rose stares at the ceiling and blinks the sleep from her eyes, Amy sitting on the edge of the bed. “Sorry—did I wake everyone?”

“No,” Amy says slowly, “just me and Rory—our rooms beside yours.”

“Sorry,” Rose winces as she sits up, pulling herself up against the headboard.

“What we’re you dreaming about?” Amy asks her curiously, “you sounded…I dunno how to explain it.”

“An adventure with the Doctor, a long time ago,” Rose tells her quietly, “It was…frightening.”

“I’ve had those,” Amy says, “I lost Rory once…he got wiped out of existence,” she frowns at the memory of how she remembered Rory in the middle of ancient Rome.

“You still dream about him too?” Rose asks as she swings her legs over the side of the bed.

“Yeah,” Amy smiles faintly, “all the time.”

“You don’t have to go back to the nineteen forties you know,” Rose tells her, “you can just have River take you to him.”

“I can’t,” Amy smiles wanly, “we can’t. Rory and I…we’ve built a life…we’re ready to settle down. We want to adopt…and…we’ll never get to do that with him. He’ll just keep popping up in our lives again and again—not that we mind, we both love him—it’s just….”

“I get it,” Rose smiles faintly, “Can’t live that life with him forever—nobody can,” Rose tells her, “he’ll understand it too.”

“Still,” Amy says, “I wish he could just visit now and then…he’s _family_.”

Rose smiles at her, and it wasn’t just any smile. It was warm and full of quiet joy when she looks at Amy, “I’m glad,” she tells her, “I’m _so_ glad he’s found people to love him—to give him a family.”

 

                                                     

* * *

 

 

               When Amy goes back to bed Rose goes downstairs and makes tea before sitting on the back porch to watch the sunrise. Today is Christmas Eve, and soon her Mum would be up cooking all day and Rose would be wrapping presents in her room with the door locked—to keep Tony from prying—and the Master…

Her gaze shifts towards the TARDIS.

There is a wreath hanging on the door and she has to try very hard not to laugh.

He was going to _furious_.

Her phone vibrates and she checks it, there is a text from Torchwood. _Dimension Cannon at eighty-one percent._ It was almost time to send Amy and Rory home. They still had no way of contacting River Song however, but Amy assured her that she had a number she could call the moment they landed in the other universe. In any case, if that failed Rose told Amy to call the TARDIS phone number she had stored on her phone along with River’s. Amy wasn’t keen on the idea—although she desperately wanted to—because of the reasons they’d discussed earlier.

_Bad Wolf_

Those words haunted her sometimes, like an echo from a very long time ago. Sometimes she dreams of it, but she hasn’t in a long time. Last night was the first time in a long time that she dreamt of satellite five, of that northern man with the big ears and the leather jacket. Her phone rings and she checks it, _Tosh_.

“Yeah?” Rose says as she presses the answer button, “Happy Christmas.”

“Happy Christmas,” Tosh smiles into the phone, “I’m at work actually—working on that program I told you about.”

“The time-lock thing?” Rose quirks a brow, “Tosh it’s Christmas Eve…. go home…don’t you and Owen have a date tonight?”

“Yeah,” Tosh brightens, “I know…I can’t believe he said _yes_ —anyhow—look…part of the time-lock program, I’ve developed this software to monitor timelines…and there’s something weird going on here.”

“What sort of weird?” Rose frowns.

“The kind that would cause timelines to shift,” Tosh says, “It’s like there being rewritten.”

“Wait hang on,” Rose rubs her eyes tiredly, “Since when could you monitor timelines?”

“Since…. midnight a week ago?” Tosh replies almost sheepishly.

“Blimey Tosh,” Rose laughs a little, watches the sun rise over the horizon in the distance, “you need to leave the office occasionally.”

“Just come in for a bit?” Tosh asks, “Just for an hour?”

“Yeah,” Rose grins, “I’m on my way.”

                                                         

* * *

 

“Happy Christmas sweetheart!” Jackie says as Rose passes buy, straightening her blouse. “Hold on—you’re not going to work right, now are you? It’s _Christmas Eve_!”

“Tosh wants me to come in for an hour,” Rose tells her, “she’s found something—I promise it’ll only be an hour.”

She glowers a for a moment before replying, “Then stop at the store on your way home—I need eggs and a carton a milk.”

“Got it,” Rose kisses her cheek and hugs Pete in passing, fluffs Tony’s hair from where he sits at the breakfast table.

“Oi,” Amy says as she comes downstairs, “where you off to?”

“Work,” Rose smiles faintly at her, “I’ll be back.”

“It’s Christmas Eve,” Rory pulls a face as he appears at the top of the staircase.

“So I’ve been told,” Rose calls on her way out the door.

                                       

* * *

 

 

 

“Tosh,” Rose announces on her way out of the elevator, “I’ve only got an hour or my Mum will go mental.”

“It’s just a bit,” Tosh calls back, spinning in her chair to look at her.

“Brought you a coffee,” Rose hands over the steaming cup and looks at the monitor behind Tosh, “So what’s up?”

“See these timelines?” Tosh points out, “I wouldn’t have noticed had the machinery not picked it up…. when time is re-written, you don’t notice…it just…changes everything around you and that’s the end of it. Yet…these timelines have changed. Random people off the street too, it doesn’t make any sense.”

“Where did you get this from anyways?” Rose taps the monitor, “I mean…you were just barely sorting out the theory of time locks and…”

“I built it off a theory written by Dr. Abraham Cellar in the eighteen hundreds,” Tosh explains, “he thought time was…. why are you looking at me like that?”

“It’s nothing,” Rose says after a beat, “I met him once in the eighteen hundreds with the Master is all.”

“Oh,” Tosh nods.

“He went missing,” Rose adds slowly.

“Not good,” Tosh frowns. “You think….” She glances at the screen and then at Rose, “you think _this_ is the product of another timeline change?”

“They all thought he was a crack-pot,” Rose tells her, “It’s likely.”

“Can you narrow down who’s timelines were looking at?” Rose asks, peering at the screen.

“No,” she tells her, “this software is very new…delicate…I’ve only managed to access the surface level of the time vortex…it wasn’t easy.”

“So somebody is going about re-writing people’s timelines at random,” she frowns thoughtfully, “I’ve never heard of anything that can do that.”

“Maybe ask the Master?” Tosh suggests.

“I’ll ask,” Rose tells her, “if you’ll go home and have a good Christmas yeah?”

“Yeah,” Tosh grins up at her, “I need to call Owen anyways—check the reservations we made for dinner.”

“Good,” Rose grins and pats her shoulder before starting for the door, “I’m going home—Mum needs me to go the store first.”

“Happy Christmas!” Tosh calls.

“Happy Christmas!” Rose calls back as the elevator doors close.

 

                                                       

* * *

 

 

 

She’s not even out of her car yet when the Master comes walking down the driveway, thunder in his eyes. “Hello to you too,” Rose calls as she gets out of her car.

“Your _Mother_ ,” he scowls darkly, “tell her to keep her _decorations_ off my TARDIS!”

Rose smiles faintly as she walks past him and he follows her back towards the house. She is reminded blindingly in that moment of the Doctor on Christmas. Killer Christmas trees, snow that wasn’t snow at all, Santa hat poppers, Christmas dinner….

“Did you hear me?” The Master’s voice interrupts het thoughts.

“yeah,” Rose smiles wanly, “I think she was just trying to cheer you up.”

“I don’t need cheering,” he tells her, “I’m perfectly cheerful. Look—see—this is my cheery face,” he tells her with a dramatic and mocking smile.

“ _Stop it_ ,” Rose puts a finger to his lips to end his rant, “I get it…but my Mum’s trying to be nice and you’re being a prat about it. She doesn’t understand like I do…I know the holidays of Earth aren’t like the ones on Gallifrey—if you lot have holidays that is. You don’t celebrate any of them…I get it.”

He scowls at her retreating back before following along after her. “You smell funny.”

“Thanks,” Rose pulls a face as she glances back at him.

“No,” he tells her, “I mean you smell like _time_ ,” he tells her, “have you been meddling with anything involving chronon energy?”

“Tosh developed this new program that can monitor timelines,” Rose explains, “she used this theory Abraham Cellar created to make it—didn’t he go missing?” Rose asks, turning to look at the Master.

“Yes,” he tells her, his expression blank, “I wonder how his theories got out.”

“Maybe Isabella?” Rose suggests, “Though as I recall she was the real genius behind it all.”

“Possibly,” he replies, “your people…they shouldn’t have that kind of technology yet.”

“Tosh is a genius—she’s already worked out how to create a time lock,” Rose tells him.

“Really?” he quirks a brow, “sounds like someone the Doctor who have just _loved_ to cart around with him.” He hadn’t considered Tosh capable of it, but now that he knew…was it possible this was a consequence? Maybe Isabella had nothing to do with it and Tosh happened upon old records of some kind?

“You look… _nervous_ ,” Rose frowns up at him, “what’s wrong?”

“I just never expected any of Cellar’s work to make it this far is all,” he says, “you humans—you never cease to surprise me.”

“So my point is,” Rose tells her as they steal around the side of the house to avoid her Mum in the kitchen, “I was wondering if you could think of anything that can alter timelines—Tosh says the timelines have been shifted recently. She wouldn’t have even noticed had she not seen them herself.”

He frowns at her thoughtfully, “Shifted—as in _changed_?”

“Yeah,” Rose tells him as they walk towards the TARDIS. The ground is thick with snow, and Rose kicks at it lightly as they walk. She loves snow, is tempted to make a snowman outside the TARDIS door just to mess with him. She could make one of the Doctor and leave it right outside the door so when he opened it…BAM—there stood the Doctor.

Just for fun.

“Anyone specific?” He quirks a brow.

“We can’t tell,” Rose says, “but it’s random timelines all over the city.”

He narrows his gaze, stares at the TARDIS door quietly.

“Are you trying to will the door open or are you thinking?” Rose asks, amused by the look of concentration on his face.

“I can see the timelines,” he says quietly, “just a bit…just a little….and….” he frowns, “they feel different. Someone’s meddling with them…it’s _so_ familiar…”

“Oi you two,” Amy calls from the porch, “Christmas shopping yeah?”

“Yeah,” Rose calls back, “Let me get changed and we’ll go.”

“You’re going _shopping_?” he sneers at her when Amy leaves, “ _now_?”

“Yeah,” Rose tells him, “I’ve learned something while working at Torchwood you know. Don’t ever let _that_ life consume the one you have with your family.”

He rolls his eyes as he starts for the TARDIS, “find me when your done—I need to think about this.”

“Yeah,” Rose tells him as she turns towards the house.

Time for Christmas shopping.

 

                                     

* * *

 

 

“I was a model,” Amy says as they walk through the department store downtown. She nods towards one of the posters on the walls, “Petrichor,” she says, “I named a perfume that.”

“What’s petrichor?” Rose quirks a brow.

“The smell of dust after rain,” she supplies easily, “Hey—thanks for loaning me some money…I’ll pay it back somehow.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Rose waves her off, “Mum was adamant we help you out and I wanted to make sure you and Rory had a good Christmas here…I just…I feel bad we couldn’t get you home sooner.”

“It’s alright,” Amy smiles and turns towards a clothing rack, “Rory’s always ruining his shirts.”

“Yeah,” Rose grins and wanders towards another section, eyeing the lingerie. She needs a few new things and some of this was on her list. Flipping through each rack she eyes the color thoughtfully, holds them up against herself in a mirror pensively.

“ _Red_ was always your color,” says a voice from behind her, “although I _must_ say I don’t really know much about lady’s undergarments.”

“Oh,” Rose blushes, sets the lacy red bra back on the rack as she turns towards the man behind her, “Listen buddy I--…” she stops mid-sentence and stares. “ _Doctor_?”

“What?” he points at himself, glances behind him and then looks at her, “Oh you mean _me_! Oh no, no…I’m the _Valeyard_.”

“Sweet _lord_ ,” Rose breaths, her gaze drifting from the chin to the bow tie, to the tweed jacket, to the black loafers. “You changed your face! How did you change your face—you _can’t_ change face!”

He quirks a brow, leans against one of the racks and nearly topples it over, grabbing at it frantically to right it before he says, “Well I _did_ —you like?”

“ _Doctor_?” Amy’s voice calls from across the walkway, “is that you?”

“Oh hello there,” he waves cheerfully, “whoever you are, nice to meet you.”

“Amy,” she says as she approaches them and then looks at Rose questioningly.

“ _Valeyard_ ,” Rose pinches the bridge of her nose and grabs him by the arm, “I’ll be back in a bit!” she calls to Amy, dragging the Valeyard away from her.

“Where the _hell_ have you been?” Rose snarls, rounding on him, “I looked for you—for _ages_! You were just _gone_!”

“Well I’m here now,” he tells her like that helps, “and its _Christmas_! I _love_ Christmas—I think—yes, I think I do…” he frowns thoughtfully. “Who’s the surly red head?”

“That’s Amy,” Rose replies, “and you’ve got the Doctor’s face—the face he wore when she knew him at least.”

“ _Ooh_ ,” he nods and pulls a face, “I don’t like it--though I suppose it can’t be helped, him having my face.”

“Why are you here?” Rose grits her teeth, “ya just _left_.”

“You’re in danger,” he tells her seriously, “I came to get you.”

“ _Why_?” Rose frowns, “why am I in danger? Why do you even _care_?”

“He’s coming for you Rose,” the Valeyard says slowly, “and I thought we’d shielded you properly but we didn’t and now he’s coming for you. I don’t know what he wants but I need to get you out of here right now—and I always care.”

“Rubbish,” Rose snaps and turns away, stalking back towards Amy, “I don’t believe you—your lying…you’re up to something.”

“Rose I’m not _lying_ to you,” he falls into stride beside her, “The Trickster is here and he’s coming for _you_.”

“I dunno,” Amy interjects as they approach, “that’s his lying face.”

“Keep out of this you,” the Valeyard points at Amy and looks at Rose again, “I’m _serious_.”

“Who’s the Trickster?” Amy asks.

“An Eternal,” the Valeyard says, “a very bad man—I would know, I’m the _Valeyard_.”

“You said that already,” Amy points out, “Just saying.”

He glowers at her before looking at Rose pointedly, “Please—I came back here to save you.”

“I don’t _need_ you to save me anymore,” Rose snarls at him, “you _left_ …you were just _gone_ and I needed you and you were _gone_! I made it on my own and I don’t need you to save me anymore!”

“ _Yeah_!” Amy cheers awkwardly in the background—probably because she herself feels awkwardly caught between them—and follows Rose as she storms off towards the checkout line.

“Why would he take _you_?” the Valeyard asks Amy as they walk side by side, thoroughly bewildered, “your all surly and _rude_ —and very _red_ , I don’t like it.”

“Doctor loves a ging,” Amy says, “your definitely not him.”

“ _Rose_ ,” The Valeyard calls as he watches her pay for her things and storm off for the door, “ _Listen_ to me please!”

“ _Go away_ ,” she snarls at him as she storms out onto the street.

“Oh fine,” he says, “always have to do _everything_ the hard way, don’t you?”

“What are you---…” Rose blurts as he produces a screwdriver from his pocket and yanks her to his side, “Let go of--…” she stops, the sound of his screwdriver whirling, Amy’s look of horror as she darts towards them shouting her name…

 

                                                         

* * *

 

“You have a _TARDIS_?” Rose stammers in shock as he lets her go and steps away from her, dashing around the console. Somehow—maybe a teleport—he beamed them right into a TARDIS.

“Yes!” he says cheerfully, “do you like it? I like it—it’s new—I like _new_ things though I do miss the old girl, how is she? I’m sure she’s cross for me leaving her like that and--…”

“Shut _up_!” Rose shouts, “Blimey you talk a lot!”

“Eh,” he stares at her for a moment, pressing the lever forward on the console as the TARDIS takes off.

“ _Oh no_ ,” Rose rushes forward to grab the lever, “you’re not taking me _anywhere_! If there’s somebody out there looking for me then my family’s in danger!”

“ _Rose_ ,” he says as his voice hardens, “I’m not taking you back—you’re in danger—don’t you _ever_ listen?” he tells her in frustration.

She takes a breath, determined to reason with him somehow. He’s not as reasonable as the Doctor however, and twice as stubborn, “Alright—tell me who the Trickster is and why he’s after me.”

“Because your _Bad Wolf_ ,” he tells her, “Weren’t you listening? —you ought to get that checked you know,” he tells her pointedly before adding, “I told you we thought we’d shielded you but it didn’t work. He’s found you now.”

“ _Shielded_ me?” Rose asks, biting back her temper.

“Yes,” he says with his eyes on the rotor in front of him, “The Trickster is an eternal—he lives off altering timelines, it’s how he powers himself up to enter this dimension. He’s after you Rose—after Bad Wolf.”

“But I’m not Bad Wolf,” Rose says firmly, “I haven’t been Bad Wolf—you took it out of me remember?”

“No,” he shakes his head, “No I didn’t—I shielded it and made you forget, there’s a _difference_. Bad Wolf is in your blood, it’s part of who you are and nothing can ever change that. He’s going to try and steal it from you and I need to get you as far away from this universe as I can—speaking of which did you know there’s a hole up there? Rather large one—I went through it—found Gallifrey! Isn’t that grand, I found Gallifrey, it’s how I got this brand-new TARDIS, lovely thing isn’t it? She’s just lovely and she’s all mine.” He says, patting the rotor lovingly. “Would you like to go to Gallifrey? Let’s go right now, you and me—off to Gallifrey….” He trails off when she covers his mouth with her hand.

“Stop talking,” she says slowly, “One thing at a time,” she tells him, “Gallifrey is back?”

“Yes,” he says from behind her hand.

“And you went into the other universe?”

“Yes.” He answers, his voice muffled by her palm.

“And some insane bloke named the Trickster wants to steal Bad Wolf from me?” Rose asks, “I can’t even use Bad Wolf—how can he steal it from me?”

He licks her palm and she squelches, yanking her hand away and glowering in disgust before he answers, “Haven’t you ever wondered about all those _experiments_ you’ve been finding?”

“What about them?” Rose asks, a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.

“He’s been experimenting on them to sort out what to do with you,” he tells her pointedly, “isn’t it obvious? Honestly doesn’t _he_ _ever_ pay attention?” The Valeyard rolls his eyes, “Absolutely brilliant but completely _stupid_ — _how does he get around_?”

“The Master---…” Rose starts but he cuts her off.

“Oh _yes_ ,” the Valeyard says with a mocking little dance around the console as he speaks, “Lord _serious_ pants—the answers been right in front of him and he can’t even see it.”

“Hang on,” Rose says slowly, “how do you know about all this?”

He only grins sheepishly at her.

“You’ve been _spying_ on me, haven’t you?” she growls angrily.

“I may have left but I never took my eyes off you,” he says seriously, his expression dropping. “You wanted me gone.”

“I was _angry_ ,” she glowers, “you killed twenty people!”

“For you,” he retorts, “I did it to save you and I’d do it again. I don’t give a damn about this planet or this universe Rose, but I do care about you— _let me help you_.”

She doesn’t say anything, only stares for a while before asking, “Take me back—we have to go _back_.”

“No,” he says flatly.

Rose glares for only a few seconds before she dives forward, yanking the controls away from him, “We’re going back and guess what,” she says triumphantly as she reads over the console and the monitors, “I can _read_ Gallifreyan!”

“Oh by all means,” he extends out his hands and steps aside, “if you wanted to drive all you had to do was ask.”

Flying a TARDIS was a lot harder than it looked.

Rose scrambles to control the ship while he comments in the background, “Is that the vortex? —yes I think it is—we’re still in the vortex—oooh mind that corner there we don’t want to hit _that_.”

Rose grits her teeth, straining to keep the ship steady but the twists and turns of the vortex were happening so fast that the ship was rattling like an old rusty bucket in space. “Are you mad!?” Rose shouts, “I can’t fly this damn thing—I only wanted you to take me back!”

“Then don’t take the controls from me,” he grounds out right in her face and pushes her aside to take over again, “besides—TARDIS was on autopilot the whole time, we’ve only hit a bit of rough seas is all. Did you really think I’d let you _fly_?” he rolls his eyes.

“Please,” Rose says quietly, “Please take me home.”

“I can’t,” he says after a beat, “if we leave now he’ll probably follow us into the other universe but we can deal with him there—your family will be safe—he won’t bother them if you aren’t there.”

She says nothing, only stares at the console.

“How’d you learn to read Gallifreyan anyways?” he asks, his eyes on the console too.

“Long story—got stuck in the Neverwhen,” Rose tells him quietly.

“Blimey,” he says with widened eyes, “You _have_ been busy, haven’t you?”

“Please,” Rose says quietly again after a beat.

He growls and jerks the controls sideways, the TARDIS rocking sharply. “Rose think about this, will you? _Just think_. It’s more dangerous for your family if you go back.”

“I have to go back,” Rose tells him calmly, meeting his gaze, “I know that’s not your thing—but it’s mine. I need you to tell me however, everything you know about the Trickster.”

“He’s an exiled Eternal from another dimension with uncalculated power—what more do you need to know?” he quirks a brow at her, “I imagine he’s searching for a way to wake Bad Wolf up—see, I put it to sleep that day on Satellite five and wiped your memory of it. Bad Wolf’s all tucked in for nap time and he wants to go in and wake her up.”

“What happens if he does?” Rose asks tentatively.

He looks at her and then at the console, “I don’t know. The stories about Bad Wolf…” he trails off. The TARDIS rocks sharply and settles with a jolt. He stares at her as she starts for the door. “Rose _please_ …” he says quietly, sadly.

“Come with me,” Rose says as she steps outside and turns to look at him.

“I can’t,” he answers solemnly and stares at the console.

“Yes you can—it’s easy—just help us,” Rose tells him pointedly.

“No,” he says and turns away, “Shut the door if you going—there’ll be a draft.”

Rose frowns, anger and hurt mixing together as one, “Go on then,” she shouts as she slams the door closed and turns away, “Run away! _It’s the only thing you and him were ever good at_!” Rose stares at the TARDIS as it disappears—he has the nerve to make it a police public call box too—and glowers hotly. Behind her, she can hear her Mum shouting her name.

“Rose!” she cries as she runs down the drive, “Amy just called and said the Valeyard took you and--…” she trails off, watching the TARDIS disappear, “Is that him then?”

“Yeah,” Rose says flatly, “I’m fine Mum—really…” she turns towards the house, noting the Master in the doorway. “We need to talk.”

 

                                   

* * *

 

 

“Your certain that’s what he said,” the Master says slowly, staring at the console of the TARDIS so hard she thought he might burn holes through it.  “He said Gallifrey is _back_.”

“Yeah,” Rose tells him, “said he got the TARDIS from there—brand new one too.”

“and he’s _certain_ it’s the Trickster?” he adds pensively.

“I guess,” she shrugs, “he wanted to get me out of this universe.”

“ _You should have gone with him_ ,” the Master tells her flatly, “Rose Tyler…you have no idea… _no idea_ what the Bad Wolf really is.”

“What is it?” Rose asks, “I mean…I don’t really remember much but I do know I wasn’t evil…I saved the Doctor with it…defeated the Daleks…”

“There are stories,” he tells her quietly, “on Gallifrey—stories about Bad Wolf. There _fairy-tales_ really,” he laughs bitterly, “old stories from the beginning that were told to the children of Gallifrey—even I grew up hearing them…Bad Wolf…” he says hesitantly, as if debating on how much to tell her, “Bad Wolf is a planet eater…a _destroyer of worlds_ ….”

Rose stares blankly, struggling to process what he’s saying, “are you telling me that Bad Wolf is the _villain_ in the stories?”

He stares at her and says nothing.

“I’m a villain?” Rose says slowly, processing still.

“The stories whisper of a creature called Bad Wolf that destroys whole worlds…planets…a being of unknown ability…one of the most dangerous beings in any universe. This is why he’d be after you—to steal that power…if he had it he could conquer the Eternals and return to the other dimension.”

“Who are the Eternals?” Rose presses, circling the console to stand next to him.

“The Eternals,” he begins thoughtfully, “are a group of immortal beings that live in another dimension beside this one. They live on another plane of existence. They call themselves—or called themselves at least—the Pantheon of Discord. If they know of you—they likely try to either recruit you into their little club or end you entirely to prevent you from overthrowing them. Your either their friend or their enemy—there is no in between with them.”

“Great,” Rose says, rubbing her face tiredly, “and I’m completely defenseless.”

“Oi, what am I then?” The Master scoffs indignantly.

“No,” Rose says quickly, blinking at him, “I didn’t mean….” She sighs and stares at the ceiling before looking at him, “how can he steal Bad Wolf from me? The Valeyard told me it’s in my blood…it can’t be changed.”

“Yes,” he tells her slowly, “that idiot—that complete and utter _idiot_ —failed to remove it from you when he had the chance. Now it’s locked to your blood—bits of chronon energy fused your blood forevermore—so I doubt he’ll be able to steal it from you…but maybe that’s not his plan. Maybe—just maybe—he’s going to try and wake it up.”

“That’s what the Valeyard said too,” Rose tells him.

“Yes,” he nods, “but… _he can’t_ …I have no idea what it will do to you. I have no idea what you’ll _become_. I had my suspicions about you from the start…especially when the Neverwhen had no effect on you.”

“So what do we do now?” Rose asks after a long silence.

“We run,” he says flatly, “I have to get you out of here—it’s my duty as a Time Lord. You…if Gallifrey exists…it’ll be the only safe place in any universe for you.”

“I’m not running,” Rose tells him pointedly, “I’m not _him_ …I won’t run away.”

“You have no way to defend yourself against the Trickster,” he tells her firmly, “if you had Bad Wolf you could probably just wipe him right out of existence—he wouldn’t dare attack you openly if you had it, that would be _incredibly_ stupid.”

“Probably?” Rose asks, watching him.

“Probably,” he says, “I have no idea what Bad Wolf can _actually_ do.”

“I’m not running,” she reiterates pointedly.

“Rose Tyler,” he sighs heavily, pinching the bridge of his nose, “I can’t stress enough…. I can’t tell you enough…. what you are, it’s a threat my kind. My people would see you as a threat—a danger to the universe. Nobody should _ever_ have that much power. Even I shouldn’t—sounds grand don’t get me wrong—but I have my limits. As a Time Lord my every instinct screams to run away from you, to get as far away from you as I can. If I take you to Gallifrey, they’ll probably be the only ones anywhere who could find a way to remove Bad Wolf from your mind. They’ll seal it away in the Time Vaults—but that doesn’t change anything. You’ll still be Bad Wolf…that will never change. You might not be able to access what you are but you’ll be the only one who can use it.”

“You can’t go to Gallifrey,” Rose tells him, “you know you can’t.”

“I know,” he grounds out, glaring at the console, “which is my dilemma…do the right thing and take you to Gallifrey whether you like it or not—and risk my own freedom—or let you do as you please.”

“I’m staying here,” she tells him firmly, “and you’re not running away either.”

“Oh _please_ ,” he scowls at her indignantly, “I’m not the running type.”

“Then stand with me and _fight_ ,” Rose tells him pointedly, “we can take him.”

He stares at her and frowns, looks away but says nothing.

“Oi you two,” Amy bangs on the TARDIS door outside, “Dinner’s ready!”

“That’ll be us then,” Rose nods towards the door, “Come on…join us.”

“I’d rather not,” he pulls a face, “Go and enjoy your little _festivities_ …I have work to do here.”

 

                         

* * *

 

 

“And,” Jackie Tyler laughs, a bit tipsy, her cheeks warm from the chardonnay in her glass, “the Christmas tree _attacked_ us!”

They’ve been trading stories for the last hour when the topic shifts over to the Doctor and Christmas. Amy and Rory had him over for Christmas dinner—which turned out to be relatively calm—with their relatives. Jackie tells them about the time he came to their old flat back in the other universe for Christmas dinner and the tree attacked them. Then there was an invasion and he lost his hand and grew it back. Then it started to snow but it wasn’t snow it was particles of dust from the destroyed spaceship hitting the planet’s atmosphere…

That wasn’t the best story to tell over dinner.

“Mum,” Rose catches her wrist, takes the wine glass from her gently and sets it on the table, “pass the bread yeah?”

“This is a lovely meal Jackie,” Rory says, “Thank you so much—Amy and I—we can’t thank you enough for everything.”

“It’s fine,” she smiles and waves him off, “I’m glad to help.”

“How about we open presents then?” Pete announces as Jackie stands to help clean up, Rose and Amy doing the same. Once the washing up was done they all gather in the living room, huddling around the tree to open presents. It’s a bizarre of colored wrapping paper, party poppers and Christmas hats, laughter and warmth. The fire is warm in the hearth and Rose smiles as she watches Rory and Amy exchange presents.

“Rose this ones for you,” Jackie says as she hands her a small rectangular package.

“Whose it from?” Rose quirks a brow.

“Dunno,” Jackie shrugs, “Just has your name on it.”

TARDIS blue wrapping paper—the Valeyard.

She sets it aside, afraid to open it here in front of everyone. Nobody notices thankfully—save Amy—she doesn’t seem to miss much. Rose smiles wanly at her and shrugs before standing with the package tucked under one arm to head for the kitchen to get another bottle of wine from the cupboard.

She sets the package on the counter and stares at it.

“You know,” the Master’s voice cuts into her thoughts, “if you’re trying to move that with your mind you’re a few millennia to early on the evolutionary chain.”

“Funny,” Rose tells him as she pulls a bottle of wine from the cupboard.

“Who’s it from?” he quirks a brow.

“The Valeyard,” she replies evenly, “I’m guessing of course—no name—but it’s the color of the TARDIS…. that’s sort of his trademark.”

“Going to open it?” he asks, watching her pop the bottle open and pour herself a glass before offering him one. He takes it—which surprises her—and sips at it lightly.

“Maybe,” she tells him, “we didn’t exactly part well earlier.”

“That might have been under the tree before he stole away with you,” he points out.

“Which would imply he knew I’d refuse to go,” Rose sighs heavily, “he knows me so well.”

“He’s awfully attached,” he remarks casually, “it’s unbecoming.”

“We were trying to have kids together,” Rose tells him quietly—she doubts she ever actually told him about it—he looks surprised. “I couldn’t get pregnant.”

“I doubt you would,” he tells her—he’s staring now, “I don’t think you two would be compatible. Furthermore…” he frowns at her and looks away before saying, “I think your sterile because _he’s_ sterile.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Rose frowns at him.

“It means,” he tells her as he watches her sip deeply from her glass, “that when the Doctor took Bad Wolf from you a bit of his DNA got into yours and it made you sterile—my people are sterile—which is why we need the looms.”

“That’s great,” Rose says bitterly, stares at the far wall, “I’ll never be a Mother.”

He frowns at her like he’s realized he’s said something wrong, “I didn’t mean to disappoint you—I merely wanted to explain the particulars of your current inability to procreate—it isn’t your fault…is what I’m getting at…. you had no part in your…lack in reproductive ability.”

“You know,” Rose tells him as she finishes her glass and pours herself another, “That’s probably the nicest rude thing you’ve ever said to me.” She fills his glass without him asking and sighs.

“I do try,” he says after a beat, “are they still out there?”

“Yes,” Rose tells him, “hiding in here, are you?”

“I wanted food but I was afraid they’d see me,” he explains quietly.

Rose laughs—she can’t help it, “Then get some—it’s in the fridge, take what you like. Nobody’s going to force you to sit with us you know…you can just…come inside if you want—or stay in the TARDIS—I’m half tempted to hide out there with you.”

They’re silent, pensive.

“Do you have kids?” she asks suddenly without meeting his gaze.

“I had a daughter once,” he tells her softly. He frowns as he stares at the far wall, locked in a distant memory, “she died long ago.”

“I’m sorry,” Rose tells him gently—fills his glass again even though it doesn’t need it—and sips from her own glass. “Married?”

“Yes,” he says, “I was.”

“We were gonna get married, him and me,” Rose tells him, “Have kids—get married, we had this flat across town—it was great. Then everything went shit….” She rubs her face tiredly, “How’s he got a different face anyways? He can’t have…he didn’t have a regeneration cycle the last time I saw him.”

“Must be something he fixed on Gallifrey,” the Master replies evenly, “as well as acquiring another TARDIS. I imagine he fixed himself and sent the new TARDIS to Earth ahead of himself…”

“ _Why_?” Rose asks with a confused expression furrowing her brow, “That doesn’t make any sense. Why send one TARDIS ahead of him to Earth—and keep the other one too? What’s he want with two TARDISes?”

“Spare parts?” The Master shrugs with the suggestion, “Greedy? Who knows…I’d think he’d want the spare parts but the TARDIS is fairly new—though he’s broken it in quite a bit—I think he was out there travelling a while before he found Gallifrey.”

“How would he fix himself?” Rose asks thoughtfully, “Being half-human and all.”

“A loom?” he shrugs, “all he needs regeneration energy to correct the problem—the minute he had that he could regenerate and sort his DNA—remove the human bits.”

“And he went to Gallifrey and they didn’t even try to stop him?” Rose frowns, “None of this is adding up.”

The Master finishes his glass and moves it away so she can’t refill it, “They may not have known he was even there.”

“Or they did and they let him go intentionally,” Rose narrows her eyes thoughtfully.

“Because they were using him for something…” The Master trails off, the wheels in his mind beginning to spin.

“Or,” Rose says, “they know about _me_.”

“You think he’d tell them about you?” he quirks a brow.

“Yes,” Rose says hesitantly, “if I refused to go with him.”

“Blimey,” he rubs his face, “He may have set you up.”

The idea that he’d do that to Rose hurt— _a lot_.

“I loved him,” Rose says after a beat, “I loved him so much…and he’d do this to me…he’d betray me like this…”

“There’s no telling if he actually did,” the Master says, noting the blurry tears in her eyes, “is your face _leaking_?”

“No,” Rose glowers and wipes the tears from her eyes, “I just…. _I’m fine_.”

She gets the feeling he said that only to distract her from the pain.

“I doubt they know of you,” he says quietly, “if they did, they’d be here already. You’re a threat to every universe…they’d want to fix that as quickly as possible.”

“I sound so _impressive_ ,” Rose laughs, “it’s absurd.”

“It is,” he agrees with a little nod. She laughs and smacks his arm playfully.

“Oi you,” she tells him with a smile, “I may not be able to _wield the power of time_ but I can still handle _you_.”

“You cheated,” he points out, “you knocked me out.”

“I did,” Rose nods, “and if the fate of the planet is on my shoulders and I’m out of options—you bet your ass I’ll do whatever I have to, to win.”

He smiles wanly, stares at the floor, “If you ever became the villain I think the Doctor would have one hell of a time with _you_.”

“I don’t think I could ever do that,” Rose says slowly, “be an enemy of the Doctor.”

“You’d be surprised what you can do under the right circumstances,” he says slowly, as if caught in a memory, “I certainly was.”

Rose frowns as she looks at him, “So why _are_ you the way you are? Why are you _the Master_?”

“I just am,” he frowns, shuts her out, “I am who I am—I chose this name because it suits me.”

“What’s your real name?” she asks, “or can I ask that? The Doctor never told me his.”

“For good reason,” he replies evenly, “I think I mentioned that to you not long ago.”

“Yeah,” Rose nods, “ _So_ ….do you have a name?”

“Of course I have a name,” he rolls his eyes, “It’s _the Master_.”

“A _real_ name,” she presses, “the one you were born with.”

“My name is _real_ ,” he says indignantly, “it’s perfectly fine.”

Rose pinches the bridge of her nose, “you know my name—it’s only fair I know yours.”

“Not telling,” he says pointedly, “stop asking.”

“Oh _fine_ ,” Rose rolls her eyes and finishes her glass before setting it in the sink behind her. “I’m going to bed.”

                                            

                                   

* * *

 

 

 

Christmas day comes and goes, and before long Rose is back at work. It was annoying her, this bizarre string of interrupted time lines that Tosh keeps unearthing from the monitors. This Trickster bloke-whoever he was—was powerful. If he could alter time lines, it put everyone in danger.

How was she supposed to catch him though?

How was she supposed to figure out whose timelines he’s meddled with?

“Tosh,” Rose calls from her office, her eyes on the screen of her computer, “how many of those timelines you said were altered?”

“Looks like five—no—six? Maybe eight at most,” Tosh calls back from the other room.

“Can you narrow them down to a single area? Maybe sort them by where they originate from,” Rose calls back.

“I’m on it,” Tosh replies and sets to work. Moments later she pops up in Rose’s office with a map, and they spread it out across her desk. Tosh takes the data from a printed piece of paper and starts circling areas where the timelines are altered.

“Scattered,” Rose mutters, disappointed.

“All over London,” Tosh mumbles thoughtfully, “maybe if we scouted these areas, see if anyone notices anything odd going on around there?”

“Maybe,” Rose says thoughtfully, her eyes drifting towards the desk just outside her office—where was Ianto? “Oi,” she says aloud, “Where’s Ianto—he should have been in already.”

Tosh quirks a brow at her curiously, “Who’s Ianto?”

Rose stares at her and then at the desk just outside her office—the oddly vacant desk. “Oh _bollocks_.”


	10. The Pantheon of Discord Part Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own any of it or make any money from any of it, all of it belongs to those who created Doctor Who.

 

“So your saying,” Owen says, watching Rose thoughtfully, “that there was bloke named Ianto who worked here with us?”

“Yes,” Rose says adamantly, “and now none of you remember him and he’s gone.”

“If he directly affected our timelines,” Tosh replies, “it would be difficult for us to notice it.”

“Except I do,” Rose frowns thoughtfully.

“Yeah—how is that?” Owen asks—he’s folding his arms across his chest in typical Owen fashion, that look of intent disproval on his face…. or maybe it’s suspicion?

“Dunno,” Rose shrugs—though she does know—it’s Bad Wolf, it must be.

“How do we find him?” Tosh asks.

“Ianto Jones,” Rose says, “Owen look him up—get me an address. Tosh…” Rose turns in her chair to look at her, “you and I are going to pay him a visit. If he’s even still in London.”

“You think he made a deal with this Trickster fellow?” Owen asks, looking thoroughly displeased with the idea.

“Maybe,” Rose says slowly, “what do we even know about him anyways? I knew his name…he worked here…we never really talked all that much.”

“Well _we_ don’t know anything about him,” Owen says as he motions to himself and Tosh. “You’re the one who remembers him.”

“Which gives us an edge,” Rose replies, “The Trickster won’t expect anyone to remember the previous timeline.”

“Well,” Owen claps his hands, rubbing them together. “Let’s get started then.”

 

                                 

* * *

 

 

 

               It turns out there are four different Ianto Jones in the London area alone. It takes them two tries to find the right one. Rose happened to see him in passing, crossing the street while they were parking with a bag of groceries in his arms. Rose takes Tosh with her and follows him up to his apartment, waiting just around the corner until he goes inside.

“That’s him?” Tosh asks quietly, watching the man down at the end of the hall as he unlocks his door and steps inside.

“Yep,” Rose replies, “That’s him alright.”

They walk the length of the hall and Rose knocks twice on the door, waiting quietly with Tosh till he answers. It isn’t however, Ianto who answers the door—it’s a woman.

“Hi,” Rose says with a polite smile, “I’m Agent Tyler and this is Agent Sato—were with a privately funded section of the government. Is Ianto Jones home?”

“Yeah,” she looks at them both questioningly, “Hang on,” she turns back, calls aloud, “Ianto—there’s some people here from the government looking to talk to you!” She frowns at Rose thoughtfully, “What section of the government do you two work for?”

“Security,” Rose tells her as her eyes shift towards Ianto when he appears at the door, “Mr. Jones, can we talk?” Rose asks her gaze shifting towards the woman and then back to him, “Privately?”

“Is it my Dad?” he frowns at them, “has he done something? I kept telling him to mind the gambling…” he trails off with an angry scowl.

“Your Dad?” Rose blinks at him and then recovers, “No,” she tells him, “It’s important however.”

“Sure,” he waves them off and steps outside, shutting the door behind him. “What is it?”

“Don’t you recognize us?” Tosh blurts out as she stares at him.

“Uh,” one brow lifts ever so slightly, “should I?”

“Yes and no,” Rose heaves a sigh, “Who’s the woman?”

“I think you should first show me some identification,” he frowns suspiciously, “before I answer any more questions.”

They both show him their Torchwood ID; Rose is amused by the way he’s careful to read each one.

“Better?” Rose asks.

“Much—thanks,” he says with a nod, “and that’s my girlfriend.”

“You have a girlfriend?” Rose asks, feeling shamed even more by the second—why had she never bothered to ask him these things?

“Yeah—Sheila,” he explains, “Her name’s Sheila.”

Rose blinks, and she sees another world around her, it is nothing but a flash of light and sound, like taking a photograph. Darkness, silver metal glinting in the night. The sound of heavy marching, people screaming. “The Cyber Wars,” Rose whispers softly, staring at a point just beyond Ianto’s shoulder.

“What did you say?” he stammers a bit, looks surprised as he stares at her.

“This is about the Cyber Wars,” Rose recovers instantly, meeting his gaze, “Your girlfriend—she got caught up in it, didn’t she? We were checking to see how she’s recovering.”

“She’s fine,” he frowns at Rose, “I didn’t realize they took an account of everyone who’d been caught.”

“We’ve tried to manage a list,” Rose lies easily, “it’s coming along slowly.”

“Sheila’s fine,” he tells them both, “No damage…no flashbacks…no headaches…she’s _fine_.”

“Do you know what happened?” Rose asks, “how she got caught?”

“They were searching our apartments,” he tells Rose slowly—hesitantly, “We heard them through the walls…we tried to sneak out—our neighbor Maureen was with us—when we snuck out onto the landing they grabbed her and we got away.”

Rose stares and says nothing, Tosh frowns at him.

“You just said…” Tosh blinks and looks at Rose, “No hold on—you just said she got caught.”

“No…” Ianto frowns as he shifts his gaze between them, “No she didn’t…no I didn’t…I…” he frowns, winces and shakes his head—like trying to shake away a memory. “we got away—that’s right—we got away.”

“Your neighbor got caught but not her?” Rose asks, frowning.

“Yes,” he tells Rose slowly, “It was Maureen…”

“But a moment ago you said Sheila got caught,” Rose replies.

“I see what’s happening here,” Tosh murmurs quietly to Rose, “Let’s bring him in.”

“Would you mind coming with us back to our institute?” Rose asks, “it’ll only be a for an hour or so.”

“What’s this about?” Sheila appears in the doorway again, “Has he done something wrong? Is this about me?”

“Yes,” Rose tells Sheila, “we were checking to make sure everything was alright—your recovery from the Cyber Wars.”

“I never got caught,” Sheila frowns, “I don’t know why you think I did.”

“I think you should leave,” Ianto says after a beat, “Leave us alone.”

“Ianto,” Rose says as he’s turning away, the door half-closed behind him, “I’m sorry…I’m sorry I never asked you…I’m sorry about your girlfriend.”

“What are you on about?” he scowls at Rose, “your mad.”

The door slams firmly shut behind him.

“Well that went well,” Tosh says brightly.

Rose rolls her eyes, “His girlfriend was killed in the Cyber Wars and the Trickster switched Sheila for Maureen.”

“How did you know it was the Cyber Wars?” Tosh asks hesitantly.

“I don’t know,” Rose answers—another lie.

What was that? How did she do that? That flash of light and sound, that image of cybermen in the streets of London, of people running and screaming, of factories burning in the night. How could she have known that? Rose isn’t psychic—or at least she doesn’t think she is—though every Torchwood employee is taught a basic level of psychic training so things like psychic paper don’t work on them.

“How are we going to reverse this?” Tosh asks, arms crossed against the railing, her gaze downcast on the streets below.

“We’re in an alternate timeline,” Rose replies, “One where Sheila lives and Maureen died. I suppose to reestablish the prior timeline we have to make him remember.”

“He’s all but locked himself in there,” Tosh nods back towards the apartment behind them, “I don’t see how we’re going to do that now.”

Rose stares at the streets below, the wheels spinning in her mind, “We’re going to prove to him that you and I aren’t mad.”

“How?” Tosh asks curiously, the cold wind like icy fingers against both their faces.

“TARDIS,” Rose tells her, a knowingly smile curving her lips.

 

                                       

* * *

 

 

“You don’t suppose he traded the Trickster for something, do you?” Tosh asks, following Rose out into her Mum’s backyard.

“Possibly,” Rose says, “though I don’t know what he’d trade him for. There’s any number of things in the Torchwood vault’s he could want though.”

“Nothing that I can think of that would be of value to him,” Tosh replies, watches Rose unlock the TARDIS door before stepping inside.

“Brace yourself,” Rose announces, a knowing grin on her face.

“Oh it’s a space ship, I’ve seen space ships before,” Tosh says, “Once you’ve seen the inside of one space ship you’ve seen them--…” she trails off, mouth agape.

“I swear if you say _it’s bigger on the inside_ …” The Master’s voice fills the room, his head popping up from beneath the grating at their feet.

 “Two dimensional,” Tosh says in awe, “a dimension _inside_ another dimension!”

“See,” Rose pats the Master’s head as she walks by, “told you she’s brilliant.”

He scrubs at his hair where she touched his head like she might be contagious and climbs out from beneath the grating, “lucky guess.”

“Clever,” Rose tells him pointedly.

“Hardly,” the Master rolls his eyes.

“I _can_ hear you, you know,” Tosh interjects.

The Master glowers at her then looks at Rose, “Why did you bring _her_?”

“We’re going on a little trip,” Rose announces, tapping the console, “To Ianto Jones flat.”

“I refuse to do parlor tricks,” he tells her flatly, “this is a scientific machine not a magic trick.”

“No,” Rose says, “No tricks—I just need Ianto to believe us. The Trickster altered his timeline—traded a woman name Sheila—his girlfriend—for their neighbor Maureen. Ianto must have made a deal with him to switch them so he can save his girlfriend.”

“And that’s my problem _how_?” he asks pointedly, crossing his arms over his chest as he stares at her. “A few altered timelines are hardly going to damage the universe.”

“Maureen,” Rose says slowly, “her name is _Maureen_ , and Ianto traded her life for Sheila’s.”

He stares, his lips pressed thin as he regards her. Rose can tell the idea is rolling around in his head like a ball inside a pin ball machine. “No.”

“ _Why_?” Rose demands irritably.

“Consider this,” he begins, “and I want you to consider this Rose Tyler—deeply. If it were you and the Doctor, and something happened to him…would you trade his life for some random person you hardly knew? If he died, and he didn’t regenerate…would you do it?”

She stares at him and says nothing.

“You would, wouldn’t you?” he asks tilting his head to the side as he watches her struggle with the idea, “you’re so _self-righteous_ , aren’t you? You’d declare others in the wrong but when put in the same position, you’d do just the same. Are you really going to shatter Ianto Jones life all over again to save one person? The Trickster’s wrecked many lives thus far if your scanners are correct—what use would it do to save Maureen if it won’t do any real damage to the web he’s already created? It won’t help any—you’ll only end up hurting Ianto Jones in the end. _Let him go_.”

“I can’t,” Rose frowns, conflicted. If it were the Doctor…. if it were him or some person she hardly knew….

An impossible choice.

“Yes you can,” he narrows his gaze, his jaw hardening in anger, “to save someone they love—some people would burn whole _planets_. You think I don’t know you Rose Tyler, but I’ve cataloged thus far at least twenty-eight different micro expressions—and don’t think I can’t see your trying to hide them—and every one of them tells me a little more about your personality. You know Ianto Jones did it to save someone he loved—even if it meant betraying Torchwood and sacrificing an innocent woman.”

“He’s right,” Tosh adds quietly, staring at the console as if caught in a memory, “It wouldn’t do any damage to what the Trickster’s done already.”

“Let him go,” the Master leans close, right in her face, “ _Let him go_.” He turns on heel away from her and stalks off down the hall towards the kitchen.

“Does he _really_ catalog your expressions?” Tosh asks after a beat.

“He gets bored sometimes,” Rose replies quietly, watching his retreating back. “Time Lords… they notice everything.”

“Maybe we should let him go,” Tosh says, “he has a point…if it were me…and I did what he did….and you came and undid it….” Tosh frowns at the thought.

“It’s still not _right_ ,” Rose presses, struggling.

“Perhaps,” Tosh replies, “but what gives you the right to decide what’s right and what isn’t? To interfere in the lives of others? Ianto’s in no danger—he did this. If it were forced on him and he were in danger I could see it, changing things back. He’s not in danger though…and he’s happy—why not just let him be happy?”

“The Valeyard once killed twenty people to save me,” Rose replies quietly after a long while, “would you say that’s right?”

“No,” Tosh says, “and I’m not saying that letting Maureen die is right either because it isn’t…but consider the consequences of changing things back—would it make it worse?”

_A flash of color and sound…Rose sees another world and another day, a woman in a basement who isn’t a woman but a cyberman. Ianto hovers in the background, she’s weakened but still alive…he’s struggling to save her…_

“What the bloody hell _is_ that?” Rose grimaces, rubbing her aching temples. The image is there and gone just as quickly, but Rose saw enough. In another world Ianto Jones saved Sheila except she was a cyberman who he hid in his house.

“What’s what?” Tosh asks, stepping around the console to look at her.

“Nothing,” Rose waves her off, “headache.”

 

                                         

* * *

 

 

“What was that about?” Rose asks, leaning against the frame of the kitchen door as the Master makes tea.

“What was what about?” he asks without meeting her gaze.

“You, me, the console room— _let him go_ ,” Rose asks pointedly.

“I don’t interfere unless I need to,” he replies simply.

“You don’t interfere unless it directly affects you or endangers the universe you’re currently living in,” Rose translates, glowering hotly at his back.

“You know me better than I thought,” he tells her, tentatively sipping from the cup he holds to test the flavor.

“You’ve been cataloging my expressions again?” Rose asks, “and stop changing the subject—I want to know what your problem is.”

“Yes, I have—and my problem is Rose Tyler, that I don’t care—this isn’t my problem. I know you and I have been off on some _adventures_ in the past and now you think were _best mates_ but were _not_. What’s the harm in him saving his lost love?”

“It’s the principle of the thing,” Rose tells him flatly, “It feels wrong to just leave Maureen to her fate.”

“And what about all the others?” he counters as he sets his cup aside and steps closer, folding his arms across his chest. “What about them?”

“We don’t know any of them—we have no way of finding them but we have found Ianto,” Rose replies, “we could at least save just one person— _just one_.”

“You know,” he says as he taps his chin mockingly like he was deep in thought—though Rose knew he already had an answer, “I think you’re trying to compensate for something.”

“ _Oh_ ,” Rose laughs with a roll of her eyes, “ _that’s_ the pot calling the kettle bottom black.” She steps closer, meeting his gaze in challenge, “I think you’re doing the same thing.”

“Hardly,” he scowls.

“We both know why I’m doing it,” she tells him, “the Valeyard killed twenty people and I live with that guilt every day of my life,” she replies, “I wonder what _you_ live with?”

“Not _guilt_ ,” he scoffs indignantly.

She stares at him for a beat before she says, “There was a virus,” she says quietly, caught in a memory, “it was brought here by this ship that crashed…we were trying to contain it. Turns out, the people who crashed the ship didn’t die, they were using humans to experiment on. I was caught along with several others…they were testing viruses on us like lab rats to see what worked best—we were cannon fodder for a war they were in the middle of with another species. I was in this room; they were going to start the testing on the whole corridor but it was just me in one room and twenty others in another. They were testing on groups and individuals, to see how the viruses worked best. He had a choice between me and the others and he chose me—I told them I’d save them and I failed. When we came there…I told them…I said I’d get them out, that everything would be alright and I failed. Worst of all, I thought I’d succeeded until I found out later he’d lied to me…he told me he’d let them out and he didn’t…he didn’t even bother telling me the whole story because he knew I’d be angry. He left them to die to save me because he couldn’t save us both, there wasn’t any time. I find out later that all those people died from Pete. It was awful…” she murmurs quietly, staring at the Master’s chest. “I confronted him about it, about lying to me…and it just…we got into a huge argument and he left.”

“He loved you and he saved you,” the Master tells her, “and he was afraid you’d hate him for loving you.”

“Who’d have thought you would know anything about psychology,” Rose says quietly, stepping around him to pour herself a cup of tea.

“I’ve lived a long time,” he shrugs, “I know a few things.”

“So are you going to tell me your half or are you going to stand there looking stoic?” Rose asks, tilting her head to the side as she regards him.

“There’s nothing to tell,” he replies, “and even if there was I wouldn’t tell _you_. I’m not the _sharing_ type.”

“Oh get off,” Rose rolls her eyes, “everybody has a story.”

“ _Ok_ ,” he tilts his head to the side and Rose can hear the malice in his voice before he even begins, the mockery in his gaze as he looks at her that says _I don’t do deep talk and your pathetic for trying, “_ What if I fell in love with this _be-au-tiful_ woman on Gallifrey and I burned whole planets to save her and she ran off with the Doctor? OR, my sob story is all about me falling in love with a human woman who I thought died and I tried to save her but _really_ she ran off with the Doctor.”

“Stop,” Rose sighs heavily.

“ _What_?” he scowls darkly, slowly stalking towards her, “I thought you wanted to hear a _sob story_? I thought you _wanted_ for us to sit and _bond_ —talk about our _feelings_.” He scowls nastily at the last word of that sentence, like he was disgusted by it.

“You act like you’re so tough,” Rose tells him, “like nothing ever bothers you but I think you’re lying.”

 “Oh _stop_ ,” he grounds out loudly, “stop trying to _fix me_ , stop trying to get under my skin. Did you think you could? Did you honestly think we were going to have some _heart to heart_ and suddenly be _best mates_?” He sneers in disgust as he looks at her, “your nothing but a _filthy_ little ape and I’m at the top of the food chain, I wouldn’t sully myself with such baser things.”

“Why are you being like this?” Rose asks, taken aback by the harshness of his words and tone.

“I am who I am Rose Tyler,” he wheels around to look at her, anger and malice in his eyes, “ _This is who I am_. I’m tired of being delicate because I have to mind the little human’s _feelings_.”

“ _Fuck you_ ,” she snaps, and much to both their shock—she didn’t exactly plan this next bit it just sort of happened—she throws her tea right in his face and stalks off. She doesn’t even bother to see his expression—it would probably have been highly amusing—but she was far too angry to look at him. He was pushing her away for a reason, it was obvious enough.

Or maybe he just doesn’t do _feelings_ —the Doctor didn’t either.

 

                                   

* * *

 

               “Oi,” Jackie says when Rose stalks through the house with a determined step towards the front door, “what’s the face for? Where’s the Master? The washer’s gone wrong again, think he could fix it?”

“Piss on him,” Rose scowls darkly, yanking on her black wool coat.

“He being an ass?” Jackie says, watching Rose grab her car keys and head for the door, “Where you going?”

“Yes he is,” Rose tells her, “and I don’t need him. I’m going to find the Trickster.”

“I’m coming with you!” Tosh voice suddenly calls from the living room.

“Me too!” Amy chimes in after her.

“I guess I’m coming too,” Rory adds after a beat, watching both women rush from the living room to follow Rose out to her car.

Jackie watches them go worriedly, catches Rory by the arm on his way out, “Don’t let her do anything reckless.”

“I’ll do what I can,” Rory smiles nervously, pulls away from Jackie and starts for the door.

 

                           

* * *

 

 

The drive to Torchwood is silent— _uncomfortably_ silent.

“Nice car,” Amy breaks the ice gently, pats the sleek black leather of her seat.

“It was a birthday present,” Rose replies flatly.

“You got a BMW for your birthday?” A slim ginger eyebrow slides upward, “lucky.”

Rose shrugs, “Pete thought I needed a car.”

“So… _the Master_ ,” Tosh asks when the silence becomes thick again, “he’s not coming?”

“No,” Rose replies darkly, a scowl curving her lips, “ _I don’t need him_ , I can do this on my own. I managed without him before and I’ll manage without him now.”

“Do you think that’s _wise_?” Tosh asks gently, bracing herself for the backlash of her question.

“We’ve managed just fine without him before Tosh,” Rose replies flatly, “sod on that miserable _grouch_. He doesn’t care about anything but himself, if it doesn’t directly affect him he won’t lift a finger to help.”

“Rose,” Tosh says hesitantly, “this isn’t weevils in the tunnels…or giant broccoli in the sewers…this _the Trickster_. He’s an immortal being of unknown power and we’re going after him on our own?”

“We’re Torchwood Tosh, it’s what we do. He’s endangering the lives of the people on this planet and I’m not going to stand by and watch that happen,” one more turn and they’re pulling into the Torchwood parking lot. Rose shuts the car off and stares at the steering wheel, “I _refuse_.”

“Ok,” Tosh says after a beat, defeated. It was clear her friend was on a war path and there was no stopping her.

 

                                                       

* * *

 

 

On the fourth floor of the Torchwood building, they set up around Tosh’s computer looking for anomalies in the timelines. Amy has spent the last ten minutes going over an idea she had about the Trickster and a way to track him via the timelines themselves.

“Since he’s sort of a big complex space-time thing, wouldn’t he make a sort of _blip_ on the timeline yeah? So, what if we tracked him that way?” Amy suggests, nodding towards the monitor.

“Your suggesting he’s a fixed point,” Tosh replies, “you think because he is an anomaly in the space-time continuum, he’d appear on the timelines whenever he entered this dimension.”

“Exactly,” Amy says brightly with a nod.

“So,” Tosh replies, tapping on the keyboard as her eyes glide across the screen before her, “we need to look for fixed points on the timelines—there the funny little bright dots you see every now and then—but I’m thinking because he’s not from this dimension he might show up differently.”

“Like a sort of branch off from the timeline itself,” Amy says, pointing at something similar on the screen, “sort of like that—I think the Doctor has the same sort of branch-thing. There like extensions of the current timeline except because he’s an anomaly and not from this dimension, he gets his own branch.”

“There!” Tosh says, pointing at the screen, “That one just lit up.”

“He’s here,” Rose says quietly in the background, watching the screen, “Now we need a way to trap him. Tosh you were working on a time-lock device, weren’t you?”

“I have a prototype yes,” Tosh replies hesitantly, “I’ve never tried to use it before—I designed it as a cell for the dangerous creatures we run into while doing this job. To be honest I’m still trying to sort out the time-lock defense grid for the building.”

“I’m sure it’ll be fine Tosh,” Rose tells her, patting her shoulder reassuringly, “go get it—were going to need it. If he’s a creature of time energy, then a time-lock should at least slow him down. If we can trap him in it, we can bring him back to Torchwood and lock him up in one of the high security cells.” Rose frowns at the thought as she continues, “the Valeyard helped build those—there fairly well sealed off.”

“How do we find him now?” Amy asks, “you made a map of all the altered points, right?”

“Yes,” Tosh says, “I just can’t trace the timelines back to who they belong to.”

“But we do know _that_ timeline,” Amy says as she nods to the screen, “belongs to the Trickster.”

“Hang on,” Tosh turns, pulling a city map from one of the shelves and spreading it out over the table. “If I’ve got the math right,” she says aloud, tapping the screen, squinting thoughtfully at what she sees before pulling a marker from a desk drawer and drawing a large circle around an area of the city. “He’s somewhere in this area right now.”

“Then let’s go,” Rose announces, folding the map up and tucking it into one pocket, “everybody gear up—Tosh call Owen and tell him to meet us there. Amy, Rory, you two go with Tosh and she’ll find you something to wear. We need to be inconspicuous, Torchwood is top secret and the general public mustn’t ever find out about us.”

 

                                   

* * *

 

 

“Owen I want a perimeter set up along the area circled,” Rose tells him, nodding towards the map they have spread out over the hood of her car. “Get men all along the roofs, I want eyes everywhere.” It’s cold outside, the sky overhead threatening rain. Rose can smell it in the air as they stand outside, Tosh in the background explaining the comms to Amy and Rory so that they could all stay within communication of each other as they search the area.

“The usual perception filters ought to distract anyone who gets to close,” Owen says aloud more to himself then to Rose, “I’ll get on it.”

“Good,” Rose tells him, checking her own comm to ensure it works before turning towards the others, “Amy and Rory will take the color-coded sections assigned to them—the red ones—and Tosh and I will take blue. If you see anything _do not engage_. Call it in and we’ll meet you there.”

“Got it,” Amy tells her and turns on heel, looping her arm in Rory’s with a bright grin, “Let’s do this.”

Rose watches them go quietly before turning towards Tosh, “You ready?”

“Ready,” Tosh replies, checking her phone before tucking it back in her pocket, “That was Owen, he says he’s got the perimeter up.”

“You got that device?” Rose asks as they start down the street, flash lights in hand.

“Got it,” Tosh holds up a gleaming silver looking pill like device with a timer on it. “All we have to do is flip the switch and toss it at him, it should go off the minute it hits the ground.”

“And to be certain,” Rose replies, “it won’t time-lock the whole city—just the Trickster?”

“That’s the theory yeah,” Tosh tells her cheerfully as she starts down the street.

“Theory?” Rose watches her before rushing to catch up, “Hold on---Tosh--- _theory_?”

“It’ll be fine don’t worry,” Tosh waves her off.

 

                                                         

* * *

 

 

  
“Just like old times yeah?” Rory says as he and Amy walk arm in arm down the street.

“Yeah—just like old times,” she beams at him.

“Except the Doctor isn’t here,” Rory replies quietly, “if we get into trouble he won’t be there to save us this time.”

“Hey,” Amy says, realizing how nervous he was she bumps his shoulder playfully before adding, “I’ve got you, you’ve got me—that’s all we need right?”

“Yeah,” he grins a little, his gaze on the streets before them, “What’s this Trickster bloke look like anyways?”

“Who knows,” Amy replies, “just look for weird things.”

“That’s a lot to go on,” Rory tells her with mild sarcasm.

“Like giant bugs climbing the wall…” Amy trails off, her gaze filled with mild disgust.

Rory turns his gaze in the same direction and grimaces, “We call this in right—what are those?”

“Beetles from the looks of it,” Amy says, “Really… _really_ …big beetles.”

“That have _wings_ —run!” Rory says with a shout, pulling Amy along with him back across the street and into an alleyway to hide. They hear the rush of wings, the snapping of sharp pincers when one flies by, both pressed firmly up against the brick wall behind them.

“Is it gone?” Amy whispers softly.

“I dunno,” Rory frowns at her and then creeps along the edge of the wall to peek around the corner, “Yep…looks like it.”

_A gleaming silver ship…gleaming walls…cybermen…a woman screaming in the background…_

Rory gasps, gripping the wall in shock and surprise. He blinks away the image, the blinding sudden image that filled his mind and sent fear racing through his blood.

“Hey!” Amy says, shaking his shoulder gently, “hey what is it?”

“I saw…” he gasps for air, struggling to calm his racing heart beat, “I saw…. cybermen…and I heard River screaming...she kept telling me to get down but I wouldn’t move, I didn’t want too…”

“You saw River?” Amy freezes, “you saw her like…what in your head?”

“Yeah,” Rory replies, “it was like…I saw a cyber ship in my head and River was there and…” he waves Amy off, rubbing his face tiredly, “it’s nothing Amy, forget I said anything.”

“Ok,” Amy replies slowly, “When in all the years we’ve known the Doctor has a cyber ship in your head been _nothing_?”

“I don’t know what it is,” Rory replies, “I don’t know what I saw…I just remember River screaming at me…and there were cybermen…” he frowns deeply, troubled.

“Ok,” Amy says, taking him by the hand. “Let’s call this in and get back to the others.”

“Yeah,” Rory agrees, letting his wife pull him along back out onto the streets and towards the Torchwood SUV’s in the distance. His gaze turns back just once, his eyes on the empty streets in the direction where the curious looking beetle flew. Then he looks away and focuses on his wife, on the situation at present and desperately tries to ignore the nagging sensation that something was _wrong_.

 

                                                     

* * *

 

 

 

“Amy says to watch out for _giant beetles_?” Rose pulls a face, her finger on the comm in her ear, “that’s disgusting.”

“Are they alright?” Tosh asks worriedly.

“They’re fine,” Rose replies, “said they hid in an alleyway and it flew off.”

“Good,” Tosh says in relief, “I wasn’t really sure we should have let them come honestly.”

“They travelled with the Doctor for years,” Rose tells her, “I’m sure they’ll be fine.”

“But are you fine?” Tosh asks hesitantly, “Rose I’ve known you for years now and I know when something’s bothering you.”

“He’s just so selfish,” Rose scowls darkly, “I mean…I thought we were getting somewhere finally…you know, almost friends maybe and then he just turns on me and he’s miserable and rude and hateful and…”

“Did you ask him why?” Tosh replies softly.

“Yeah,” Rose tells her as she stops on the sidewalk, hands in her pockets. “Won’t tell me…he just acts like he’s so aloof and distant and detached. Like he’s better than us, better than humans. I’ve seen it though Tosh, moments when he’s actually smiling and he’s not a complete _sod_ —moments when he actually lets himself enjoy human things.”

Tosh shrugs, “He’s a Time Lord…I don’t know much about them but from what I’ve seen of him I’d say they’re an awfully private species…highly technologically advanced, evolutionary too…to them we’re probably animals playing in the mud.”

“He’s an ass,” Rose grouses quietly.

“Stop!” Tosh says suddenly, grabbing Rose’s arm. “ _There_.”

Rose follows the direction of her friends hand to a man across the street—a peculiar looking fellow with a black hood thrown down low over his face.

“He’s got no face,” Tosh whispers quietly, eyeing the man wearily.

“Not the first species I’ve encountered who have no face,” Rose tells her and steps out into the street, watching the man across the street watch her, “My name is Rose Tyler, I work for Torchwood. You’ve been disrupting time lines across London and it needs to stop, _now_. We know who you are and what you’re doing, if you want to enter this dimension that’s fine mate but you’d best find another way of doing it.”

He says nothing and only stares.

“Mmm,” Tosh says quietly, “you told him.”

“ _Shut up_ ,” Rose glances back at her with a mild glare before turning her gaze back to the Trickster and _gasps_.

Somehow he’d crossed the space of the street in seconds and now stood not even a foot away from her. Rose stands her ground though the sudden movement has rattled her. His voice when he speaks, is like a deep rattle in his chest, like the hiss of the wind in the trees. “Rose Tyler,” he tells her slowly, “I’ve been looking for you, for a very long time.”

From this distance, Tosh wouldn’t be able to set off the time lock without Rose getting caught up in it too.

“Have you now?” Rose says slowly, edging away from him subtly. Behind her she hopes Tosh is ready because they won’t get another chance like this to trap him.

“I have spent eons waiting for the Bad Wolf,” he tells her.

“Definitely not worth the wait mate,” Rose edges farther back away from him, intends to keep him talking so he’s distracted, “I’m really not all that impressive honestly.”

“Not yet,” he says slowly, “but you will be.”

“Now see,” Rose tells him, “it’s when you say things like that—it puts people on edge. You can’t just come here and start talking like that without everyone thinking you’re up to no good.”

“Rose— _move_!” Tosh shouts as Rose dives to the right, the gleam of silver metal flashing past her shoulder. The impact of the device on the ground is immediate and shocking. There is a terrible roaring sound in Roses ears, like a symphony of song that has reached its crescendo. Then silence, and that silence is most frightening of all. She doesn’t hear Tosh’s rejoicing cries or her own heavy breaths as she sits up and turns to look back at the scene before her.

Tosh is frozen in place.

The Trickster is still standing there.

“Tosh,” Rose whispers, “ _No_.”

“Such a simple device,” he says with distaste laced in his words, “primitive—easily manipulated.”

“What the hell do you want from me?” Rose blurts out angrily, staggering to her feet, “ _Tell me_!”

“Nothing yet,” he says, “but you will come with me.”

“I won’t,” Rose says defiantly, “not a chance.”

“You will,” he tells her, motioning to the people approaching behind him, “because if you don’t…the chances of survival for your friends will have grown very bleak indeed.”

“I’m being held hostage by a _beetle_ ,” Rory says nervously as he and Amy are marched towards Rose.

“Shut it,” Amy hisses and looks at Rose, “Sorry—got the jump on us.”

“Owen come in,” Rose says, finger pressed to her comm with her eyes on Amy and Rory, “bring the perimeter online—time lock the whole area _now_.” She looks at the Trickster triumphantly, “See, the thing about me is…I’m the queen of back-up plans.”

“Oh?” he asks—he almost looks amused, “you think so?”

“We probably should have backed-up the back-up plan,” Owen’s voice over the comm in her ear sounds tired and very nervous.

“You got caught, didn’t you?” Rose asks wearily.

“They’ve taken out the towers—those beetle things, whatever they are…they feed on chronon energy and drained the batteries.”

Well…there went her other plan.

“Right,” Rose says slowly, takes a calming breath before meeting the Trickster’s gaze, “I’ll go with you if you promise to let my friends go— _unharmed_.”

“As you wish,” he replies as he extends a hand, “you will come with me.”

“Crap,” she scowls and takes his hand, grimacing at the cold feel of his glove against her skin.

“Rose no!” Amy shouts—to late of course—as she watches Rose and the Trickster disappear.

The beetles disappear at the same time they do.

“Owen!” Amy shouts over her comm, “Get down here—he’s taken Rose and he’s done something to Tosh!”

                                         

* * *

 

 

They put her in a square metal room with silver walls and no windows save for the small square plexi-glass window in the door. She is there for ages it seems, sitting on the floor, leaning against the far wall. Above her head is an odd looking circular door, and Rose finds herself staring at it from time to time. “ _Hello_!” she shouts yet again for what felt like them millionth time though nobody ever answers her. There is a funny singing somewhere above her head, soft and quiet like the whisper of the wind. It’s high and sweet, it lulls her and eases the tension in her shoulders.

She gets up and tries the door again.

It’s still locked—and there is no door handle.

“ _Hello_!?” Rose shouts, banging on the little window in the door. “ _Anyone_? Hello!”

The singing is getting louder.

“Hello?” Rose yells, screams, bangs on the glass until her hands are sore and her throat is scratchy. She gives up and slumps against the far wall again, desperately tries to ignore the sound coming from above her head.

What is that, _elevator music_?

“I don’t need the music thanks,” Rose shouts, “I’m good with the uncomfortable silence of the room.”

The door above her head opens.

Rose turns her gaze upwards, eyes widening at the sight of burning gold flushing down the pipe, fear racing down her spine. Then in that moment as it erupts in the room like fire, flooding every corner…Rose _screams_.

And in every single universe, in every corner and every TARDIS, there is the distant echo of screaming that can be heard everywhere, all at once.

 


	11. Bad Wolf Again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own any of it or make any money from any of it, all of it belongs to those who created Doctor Who.

It was the drumming again.

That sound in the back of his mind that haunted him for centuries, since he was a boy on Gallifrey. That endless drumming, that horrible relentless…

Hold on…no never mind, somebody’s just knocking on the door.

“What is it?” he scowls into the microphone on the console.

The next few moments are a blur of very long and highly ineloquent babbling done mostly by the rude ginger and her slightly-not-always timid husband while Tosh hovered in the background shouting nonsense about time-locks. He makes out a few words—because everyone is talking all at once—the first is _beetles_ , the second is _Trickster_ and the third and final one—which sets every alarm bell off in his head is _Rose._

_“One at a time,”_ he snarls into the microphone as he flips the switch to release the door and let them in.

“They took her!” Amy shouts as she bounds into the console room, “the Trickster took her!”

“They’ve got flying beetles!” Rory says at the same time, “and they held us hostage and...”

“I got trapped in a time-lock device we were going to use to trap the Trickster and…” Tosh adds.

“Hush,” he says as he passes Rory, popping him in the forehead with one finger. “The beetles were the Trickster’s brigade—they work for him. Now little apes, one at a time. _Where is Rose_?”

“ _They took her_!” Both shout simultaneously.

The TARDIS suddenly jerks sharply to the right, throwing them all to the ground.

“It’s taking off!” Amy cries, her gaze on the rotor, “What’s happening?”

“I don’t know!” he grimaces, covers his ears as a shrieking scream echoes throughout the console room.

“What is that?” Amy shouts over the noise, diving up to the console next to the Master while he struggles to get control of the TARDIS.

“Again— _I don’t know_!” he shouts pointedly right in her face, both of their gazes jerking towards the rotor as the cloister bells begin to ring. “ _No,no,no_!” he shouts, panic edging its way up his spine. If the Trickster had Rose and the cloisters were ringing…

“What’s that screaming noise?” Tosh yells over the commotion.

“The TARDIS is _screaming_ ,” he calls back, “it’s happening everywhere all at once—in every universe…” he stares at the console, horror etched across his face, “even on Gallifrey…. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Doctor’s hearing it right now too.”

This can’t be happening.

“That _stupid_ stubborn…” he slams his fist against the console and stares at the crack he’s made. “We have to find Rose right now!”

“That’s what I’ve been _saying_!” Amy shouts back, clinging to the console with everything she has.

                           

* * *

 

 

When she opens her eyes, she is groggy.

She sits up, her back stiff from lying on the floor. Looking herself over, she feels relief wash over her—she looked the same. There wasn’t anything different about her, save for the exhaustion weighing heavy on her shoulders. She stands, her gaze on the circular door above her head, which was closed. Then she tries the door—it’s worth a shot. How many times has the Doctor tried to break out of something without ever checking to see if the door is locked?

She touches the handle, twists it gently and gasps when the whole thing comes off in her hand. She stares at the metal knob in her palm, watches it melt away into sand and dust. She drops the mess on the floor, shaking her hand off in horror before pressing her palm to the door, hoping maybe she could push the door open now.

The door does the same thing the knob did.

She is horrified to watch the door melt away from the point at which her palm touched it, webbing out across the surface. With one swift kick, the door collapses to the ground, weakened by whatever she did to it. She runs, uncertain of where she’s going but she goes anyways. There isn’t anyone in the halls, so it’s easy to use her new super power—or whatever it is—to take out doors and escape. She rounds one corner and slams into a guard, scrambling to yank the gun from his hand before he can do anything to stop her. There is a singing in her head, it gets louder the longer the man stands close to her. She hears voices and sees images—all of them involve him. She is seeing his life in the flash of a moment, she knows his name now, she knows who his parents are, she knows where he grew up. She can see every point of his existence, and it’s terribly confusing.

 When he starts to scream, she is horrified, she realizes she must have grabbed his wrist at some point in her panic.

“No!” she yells, watches him stumble away from her, she watches his skin age and wither away from the point on his wrist where she grabbed him, like watching a movie in fast forward. “No, _stop_! I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to!”

He turns to dust on the floor.

Rose is frozen on the hall, staring at the dust and clothing on the floor.

She is a _monster_.

She runs.

There is an elevator at the far end of the hall, she stole the keys from the pile of clothing on the ground where the man once stood and uses those same keys to open the doors. The higher the elevator goes, the louder the singing gets again but this time there’s more than just a few voices but _hundreds_. When the doors ding and she steps out, she is disoriented by the images and sounds, the people surrounding her with guns aimed is overwhelming.

“Shut up!” she yells, “ _shut up_!”

It doesn’t stop, it only gets worse, and the more agitated she gets, the noisier it gets. She wouldn’t have time to disintegrate all their guns, there were too many of them.

“Ms. Tyler,” one guard says, “we have been sent to escort you to the ship.”

“Get out of my way,” Rose snarls, “Let me out of here!”

“Ms. Tyler,” he repeats, “we have been given permission to use force if you refuse, let’s not go there eh? How about you just come with us peacefully and we don’t have to shoot you.”

There is a funny sort of burning in her chest, like a bubble of fire that’s burning in her veins, in her head, behind her eyes. “Get away from me…” Rose breaths, she trying to warn them because she’s afraid and she doesn’t want to hurt anyone else.

“Ms. Tyler,” the guard presses, stepping forward, “easy now—hands at the back of your head.”

“I said get _away_!” she screams, her eyes widening as he both simultaneously is thrown backwards to the ground and his gun goes off, a bullet lodging itself in her shoulder. She screams and staggers backwards, her hand on the bloody wound on her shoulder.

 She stares at the wound, watches the gold light shimmer around the area as the bullet pops out of her shoulder. Then she looks at the man on the ground, frozen in place. “Um…” she stares, the others are staring at him too.

“What the hell are you?” one says to her, his gaze on the wound as it heals.

“I dunno,” Rose replies, horror in her gaze. She’s not just thrown the guard away from her, she’s _rewinded_ him. It was like she hit the rewind button and then pressed _pause_. “Ok you lot,” Rose says suddenly, “Everybody _back up_!”

Nothing.

“Well,” she tells them a little sheepishly, “it was worth a shot.”

“Unfreeze him!” One shouts, gun aimed, “Unfreeze him now!”

“I don’t know how,” Rose says slowly, hands in the air.

“Unfreeze him!” he shouts again.

“I’m telling you,” Rose repeats as calmly as she can, “I’m telling you I don’t know how and you don’t seem to be hearing me… _I don’t know how_!”

“Enough,” the Tricksters voice echoes in the hall like the hiss of the wind.

“Sir,” one guard says to him, “Sir she’s frozen Michaels…”

“I can see that,” he replies dispassionately, his gaze on Rose, “Come with me Rose Tyler.”

“Piss off,” Rose spits, anger racing up her spine again—he did this to her. “You said go with you, I never agreed to you experimenting on me!”

“I fixed you,” he says, “I made you _better_.”

“You made me a monster!” she yells, “I killed a man just by _touching_ him—watched him turn to dust right in front of me! What the hell have you done to me?”

“I woke you up,” he says slowly, “and now you can be what you truly are.”

“I don’t want it,” Rose tells him, “Turn me back!”

“I can’t,” he replies, “what’s done is done Rose Tyler.”

“Why me?” Rose demands angrily, “what do you want with me?”

“I want you to help me,” he says, “you could help me retake my place among the Pantheon—if I brought you to them, I would be forgiven.”

“ _No_ ,” Rose tells him, “I’m not travelling to some other dimension to join your little pajama party with a bunch of immortal hermits. Not happening.”

“Are the voices very loud?” he asks suddenly.

Rose stares for a moment, “Very.”

“You’re hearing their time lines,” he tells her, “you’re seeing their lives in the blink of an eye. That is only a taste of what you are capable of Rose Tyler. I can teach you to control it.”

“No,” Rose says flatly, “I’ll sort it out on my own, thanks.”

“Have I done you any harm?” he asks curiously, “have I harmed your friends? I came to this world only to find you.”

“So here I am,” Rose announces, “ _ta-da_!”

“I am not your enemy Rose Tyler,” he tells her, “I came here to help you.”

“You helped me alright,” Rose snarls, “look at me! I can’t even touch anything without turning it to dust!”

“You merely need to focus your energy away from your hands,” he tells her, “you’ve no barriers in your mind to keep the timelines out…you’ve no experience in controlling how much of Bad Wolf you use. Therefore, you have no control over it—I can help you with that.”

“Not happening,” Rose takes a step back and gasps, the pinch of a needle in her neck.

“Then I’ll let you sleep on it,” he says, watches her drop to her knees and crumble to the floor.

 

                           

* * *

 

 

When the TARDIS jerks to a stop, her occupants all stare at one another and then at the door. “Where are we?” Tosh asks, her gaze on the door.

“I have no idea,” the Master replies, stepping around the console. He pulls the monitor around and switches it on, squinting at the image it presents. “Oh of _course_.” He sneers, turning away from the screen, “I’m an idiot—really—how did I _not_ notice? The experiments…” he scoffs, “Blimey I’m rusty.”

“What?” Tosh asks, “Where are we?”

“We are aboard a ship orbiting the Earth,” he says, “the Reseveri.”

“What are they?” Rory asks, watching the Master yank on his coat.

“A species of people with advanced technology regarding time-travel. They tended to kidnap Gallifreyans during the Time War and use them for experiments because we are born of time. We’ve a piece of the time vortex in our heads, every Gallifreyan child is born with it. They’ve got a nasty obsession with time—it’s no wonder the Trickster hired them.”

“That’s not right,” Tosh says, “I would have seen it on the monitors.”

“Nope,” he tells her as he starts towards the lower levels of the TARDIS, “These people know how to get around your primitive technology.”

“Where are you going?” Amy calls, bewildered.

“I’m going to need something,” he calls back, “I’ll be back in a minute— _don’t_ go anywhere!”

 

                                         

* * *

 

               When he returns, the others are all waiting by the door. “I want you lot to stay close and don’t wander off. Keep quiet,” he tells them and then covers Rory’s mouth with his hand, “No mouth breathing.”

He snaps his mouth closed.

The Master opens the door tentatively, peeks outside. “We’re in some kind of a service hall.”

“Why would the TARDIS bring us here?” Amy asks quietly.

“To find Rose,” the Master tells her softly, “I’m assuming.”

“And what was all that screaming we heard?” Tosh asks.

“That was Rose—I think,” he explains as they step out into the hall, “we heard Rose.”

“How?” Tosh blinks at him, “I don’t see how that’s possible.”

“She’s Bad Wolf,” the Master says after a beat, “one of the most dangerous beings in the universe. If the Trickster has her…” he trails off.

“What’s _Bad Wolf_?” Amy asks as they walk along the hall as a group.

“Bad Wolf is a fairy tale,” he answers, “there are many legends about Bad Wolf. I’m currently afraid they’re about to come true.”

“Look out!” Tosh yelps as they are all shoved to the side into an alcove. The Master leans away, arms outstretched as the guards pass by them. When their gone, he moves aside and lets the others out.

“Be _quiet_ ,” he hisses at the others, “no more questions.”

They walk along, a flash of something gold in his pocket. Amy is the first to notice but says nothing, her gaze shifting between him and the device in his pocket. She waits till they turn another corner before matching her stride to his, “What are you gonna do with that?”

“Trap him,” he says quietly.

“Hopefully without trapping _us_ this time, right?” Amy asks.

“I’ve configured it to trap only him and those who are helping him,” the Master replies, “If the Neverwhen isn’t configured for anything it just goes on autopilot and traps everyone it can. I’ve set it to trap the Trickster. I just need to get close enough to turn it on.”

“And I’m guessing that’s why we’re here,” Amy says slowly, “why you didn’t just lock us all in a cupboard and go in yourself.”

The Master grins wickedly for a moment, “ _someone’s_ finally catching on.”

 

                           

* * *

 

 

They reach what looks like an elevator shaft and yet, no elevator.  “Well that’s useful,” Rory says, watching the Master stick his head up the shaft to have a look.

“Yep,” the Master says, “definitely a lift—should take us all the way up to the control room.” He leans back out and turns to look at the others, “Problem is—were gonna need a key.”

“How we gonna get that?” Amy asks.

“Tosh,” the Master says, “Mind standing just there for me?”

“What? —Here?” Tosh asks, a frown of bewilderment curving her lips as she side steps to the left just where he’s pointing.

“Yes,” he smiles, “That’s perfect.”

Then the alarms began to ring.

“What did you _do_!?” Amy shouts over the noise.

“Tripped the security system,” he tells her, “Now hush—we’ve got company.”

The elevator lights up behind him and curves of purple light rush to and fro as the platform lowers. The Master steps to the side, laser screwdriver in hand. “Amy—just stand there, will you?”

“Oh _really_ —why do I have to be the _bait_?” Amy scowls and then straightens when a guard appears in the elevator.

“Hi…” Amy wiggles her fingers.

“Halt!” he shouts, gun aimed, “how did you get in here?”

“Not on her own I can assure you,” the Master scoffs, steps out and with a quick flick of the wrist, severs the guards arm right at the elbow with the laser.

Silence fills the room save for the man on the ground who the Master shuts up easily with a pinch to the back of his neck. When he looks at the others, there horrified expression and their eyes on the severed arm in his hand he quirks a brow and says, “He’s an _android_. The key’s in his hand.”

“You severed a man’s arm off for a _key_ ,” Rory says slowly.

“Yes,” the Master tells him like he’s just a bit slow, “I’m _the Master_.” He turns towards the lift and swipes the hand over the access panel on the wall. Then he turns towards Amy and tosses her the arm, “Off you pop.”

“Wait a minute--…” Amy stammers as the Master shoves her into the lift, pitching Rory in after her moments later.

“ _Bye_!” he waves cheerfully, “keep them busy, will you?”

Silence.

He turns towards Tosh, “Come along—you’re the not completely stupid one, you get to stay with me.”

“But I…. what about Amy and Rory?” Tosh asks worriedly.

“ _Beginning to question your intelligence again_ …” the Master warns, looking at her pointedly.

“Alright,” Tosh scowls, “keep your knickers on—I’m coming.”

 

                                         

* * *

 

 

“Um,” Rory begins as the lift platform stops and they level out in the middle of a large circular room.

“He needs us to keep them busy,” Amy tells him with a grin on her face.

“Oh hold on--…” Rory starts but it’s too late. The next thing he knows, they’re running through corridors and android soldiers are chasing them, alarms are going off and people are yelling. Amy’s quick on her feet though, the arm in her hand used to swipe every access panel they run across until they reach the flight deck.

“Wow,” Amy says, stopping just for a moment as they gaze upon the Earth far below through the wide bay windows of the flight deck.

“Never gets old, does it?” Rory says after a beat, his hand in hers, her other hand holding onto a severed android arm….

“Told you,” Amy grins at him, “I’ve got you, you’ve got me—that’s all we need!”

They keep running.

                                         

* * *

 

“Where are we going?” Tosh asks in hushed tones.

“To find Rose—they’ll be keeping her in the holding cells,” he replies though quietly he wonders if those cells would even be able to hold her— _if_ she knew how to get out that is.

If she is what he thinks she is now.

There’s no doubting it though, he felt it just as the TARDIS did. The whole of time and space cried out all at once, the vortex echoing her screams.

Bad Wolf is awake.

“Do you think she’s alright?” Tosh asks tentatively, “That screaming we heard…” Tosh pauses, “I always thought Rose was a bit different…she knew things that others didn’t sometimes…like Ianto and the Cyber Wars…”

“Echoes,” the Master explains, “she started having those visions because of _this_ moment, echoing all the way back through the time lines. It’s the same reason the Neverwhen has no effect on her—she’s Bad Wolf and Bad Wolf is literally made of time. It’s the same reason the Neverwhen can’t bind her time line because of what she is.”

“So when we find her—what will we find?” Tosh asks hesitantly, “Will Rose even be Rose?”

“I don’t know,” he says after a beat, “I honestly don’t.”

“You said she’s a fairy-tale,” Tosh replies, “tell me the story.”

“What— _now_?” he asks her incredulously, “in the middle of a Reseveri war ship?”

“Yes _now_ ,” Tosh presses, “she’s my best mate and your telling me she’s been turned into some kind of _weapon_ —I want to know what kind.”

He huffs and falls silent for a moment before he begins, “A long time ago, when Gallifrey was young…there were stories of a being that embodied time. It could do as it pleased, travel between universes, move from one place in time to the next….it was the most frightening creature Gallifrey knew of. They called it a planet eater, a destroyer of worlds because of its incredible power—mind you, these are all just stories, rumors to frighten time-tots. Some say Bad Wolf created Gallifrey, some whisper that Bad Wolf will be its destroyer. However, the Doctor beat her to it on that one,” he rolls his eyes, “or so I thought.” They stop in a long narrow corridor, both pressing up against the far wall as a group of guards pass before continuing. “You have no idea what kind of threat she is to the universe if I don’t find her.”

“Can you reverse it?” Tosh asks softly, “Can you fix her?”

“She doesn’t need _fixing_ ,” he scowls at Tosh, “This is who Rose Tyler _is_. This is who she was born to be, this is what she became the moment she set foot on satellite five all those years ago. It can never be undone without killing her. I don’t even have the tools to do such a thing—they might have it on Gallifrey—but not here. Rose Tyler _is_ Bad Wolf; she will always _be_ Bad Wolf. She merely couldn’t use her power because the Doctor sent Bad Wolf to sleep in her head.”

“All the experiments,” Tosh asks, the pieces clicking together in her mind, “they all involved time. He was trying to figure out how to wake up Bad Wolf.”

“Exactly,” the Master stops at a control panel on the wall and pushes a few buttons, waving his screwdriver across the screen, “It looks like she’s being held on the floor above this one—it’s time sealed. No wonder considering what she is…they’ll take no chances with her escaping.”

“Or steal it from her,” Tosh says hesitantly, “he was testing hybrid bloodlines, possibly trying to find a way to use her blood and bind it to his.”

“Let’s hope he failed at that,” the Master says with a frown, the idea of it alone was too troubling to think of.

They reach a lift at the end of the hall, the Master shorts the fuse out with his screwdriver and the platform lowers. When Tosh gives him a questioningly look he merely shrugs, “They’d need that severed arm for more than one door and I’m not about to give them my screwdriver.”

Tosh only rolls her eyes and follows him into the lift.

 

                                           

* * *

 

 

 

She is dreaming.

Jackie Tyler is young again, cradling Rose in her arms. Pete Tyler is there, making faces and singing to his infant daughter. Then like looking a photograph, they freeze and the image changes. Jackie Tyler is an old woman; Tony is a grown man and he’s wheeling her across sprawling green fields towards the sea.

Bad Wolf Bay.

There are two women standing on the beach in the distance, watching them approach. One is tall with dark hair, the other is slightly shorter with dark cinnamon curls pulled back into a bun. Rose thinks they’re both lovely, the shorter one with her curls washing about her face in the wind, bright amber eyes focusing on the elderly woman in the wheel chair.

_BAM!_

Rose jerks awake, her vision blurry. There are alarms blaring on the overhead speakers through the corridor she is currently on. People run back and forth past her door, and when she tries to stand and use her magic melting powers—she has no idea what else to call it—on the door, nothing happens.

“Oh _now_ you want to behave,” Rose scowls at her hands and kicks the door.

“I’m supposed to be this impressive indestructible being and I can’t even get the door open,” Rose mutters irritably, kicks the door one last time before pacing the room.

“Let me outta here!” she shouts angrily.

Kicks the door again.

Blinks twice, the room starts to spin—did they pump something in here?

The next thing she knows, she’s on the floor and fast asleep again.

 

                                           

* * *

 

 

“There!” the Master shouts, “that one—no not _that_ one—the other one!”

“I can’t _read_ Reseveri!” Tosh snarls at him angrily, ducking every time a laser blast flies past overhead. “They’re everywhere!”

“Just unlock the corridor—if you don’t I can’t get Rose out!” he shouts, crawling his way towards the corridor across the room. “Tosh get over here!”

“I’m _coming_!” she shouts back irritably, thoroughly annoyed.

They were caught in the middle of an ambush when Tosh tripped the system after her foot passed an invisible sensor on the floor. The Master then spent the next two minutes reprimanding her and the entire human species before floods of android soldiers came pouring out the elevators and all hell broke loose.

“The TARDIS _should_ be translating,” the Master scowls as they run, “that lazy--- _look out_!” he snaps, yanking Tosh backwards, a laser blast narrowly missing her by inches.

“Which room is it?” Tosh calls over the chaos in the corridor.

“Last one on the right,” he calls back, “don’t open that door—let me do it!”

They rush together down the corridor, slamming the deal lock doors closed behind them. The Master seals them with his screwdriver and nods towards the end of the hall, “she’s down there.”

They walk together, Tosh a little quicker than him to reach Rose.

“Don’t open the door,” he cautions, “let me do it—I’m immune.”

“How are you immune?” Tosh asks as they go.

“I have no idea what’s behind that door,” he begins slowly, “one of the most dangerous beings in any universe is in there and I have no idea how she’s going to react or what she’s going to do when I open it. I’m immune to chronon energy—she can’t hurt _me_ but she _can_ hurt you.” He turns his back to her and starts on the door, squinting at the door as he works to unlock it. It clicks open, the lock seal light sliding from red to green with a resounding buzz. The door swings open and both peer inside hesitantly.

“Is she _snoring_?” Tosh asks after a beat.

“Yes,” the Master replies flatly while he stares, “yes she is.” He steps into the room and kneels, looking her over before carefully swinging her up into his arms, “she’s been given a sedative.”

“She’s terrifying,” Tosh says dryly as they rush back down the corridor.

“Oh _shut up_ ,” the Master scowls at her as they run.

                                                                       

* * *

 

“Careful,” the Master swats at Tosh whenever she tries to touch Rose, “don’t touch her skin—I haven’t the slightest idea what would happen.”

“Look at her hands,” Tosh says, “she’s been trying to break out I think.”

“Possibly,” he frowns at the fading marks on Roses knuckles, “she’s healing at an accelerated rate.”

“Freeze!” an android rounds the corner, gun leveled on them, “the Trickster’s looking for you.”

“Will there be tea?” the Master asks, sarcasm oozing from each word.

“We have your friends,” the android says, “you’ve no chance of escape now.”

“Come along Tosh,” the Master says after a beat, “let’s go meet _the boss_.”

 

* * *

 

“Is this part of the plan?” Tosh murmurs quietly as they go.

“If it were _why_ would I announce that while surrounded by guards?” he hisses under his breath and rolls his eyes dramatically.

“At last,” the voice that echoes in the chamber sends chills down Tosh’s spine. “We meet again.”

“Spare me the monologue, will you?” the Master retorts with a dramatic sigh, “you and I have gone this road before if I remember right.”

“Did you think I wouldn’t expect you to try and steal her?” the Trickster steps forward into the dim lighting, watches the Time Lord thoughtfully, “it is in your very instinct to protect the time-lines and she is the very essence of time itself.”

“You can’t have her,” he says flatly, “you and I both know this goes far beyond dangerous—she could destroy the universe, bring it down on all our heads if you piss her off…she’s inexperienced, she doesn’t understand what she can do.”

“I can teach her,” he replies.

“What do you want from her?” the Master narrows his gaze.

“He wants me to join his pajama party in the other dimension,” Rose mumbles groggily against the Master’s chest, “put me down, will you?”

He sets her down slowly, Rose staggers a bit before regaining her balance. Nevertheless, he keeps a grip on her shoulder, preventing her from toppling over. “Be cross with me later,” Rose tells him without meeting his gaze.

“I will be,” he replies while his gaze rests on the Trickster, “though I could have told you this was a stupid idea.”

“Somebody has to take a stand,” Rose replies, “you sure as hell weren’t going to.”

“and now you see why,” he snarls irritably, “look at the mess were in.”

“Can we do this later?” Tosh interjects.

They both fall silent.

“Tell me you have a plan,” Rose murmurs under her breath.

“I’ve got a plan,” the Master replies flatly.

“Tell me your telling me that because you actually _do_ have a plan and not because I asked you to tell me that,” Rose adds.

“Rose Tyler,” the Trickster interjects, “you will come with me.”

“Not a chance,” Rose tells him, a bare hand outstretched towards the walls of the ship, “I touch the walls, the ship disintegrates. You really wanna test me? I want my friends back—Rory and Amy, where are they?”

“We’re here,” Rory’s voice calls from across the room. He waves awkwardly when they all look, him and Amy in handcuffs.

“You have no way of escape,” the Trickster says, “we have your TARDIS.”

“So you think—but let’s be honest, when has that ever worked out for you?” the Master replies before looking at Rose, “It’s _time insulated_ ,” he tells her, looking perfectly annoyed, “did you _honestly_ think they’d come here and kidnap the Bad Wolf without a back-up plan in case she gets out?”

“Worth a shot,” Rose shrugs, dropping her hand.

There’s a funny sort of humming sound coming from the Masters pocket that apparently, nobody else can hear. Rose tries not to stare at it, but the noise is curious. It adds to the symphony of voices and images and music ringing in her ears. Rose is starting to be able to tell the difference between people now, or at least she can tell who’s human and who isn’t. The soldiers have no noise or image when she gets near some of them, it is assumed they mustn’t have a time line. The others though, the pilot and the scientists, they’ve got a time line.

The Master is curiously silent.

Rose stands closer, listens, but gets no voices or images, she hears nothing from him.

She can’t see his time line.

Amy and Rory, she can see theirs. She knows how Amy met the Doctor, how Amy and Rory met, she’s seen their adventures with the Doctor, she’s seen their life in the nineteen-forties. It isn’t intentional; Rose can’t seem to shut it off. She feels like she’s being terribly nosy doing that.

The voices are very loud right now. She’s certain the Master is speaking to her so she wiggles a finger in her ear, trying to clear out some of the sound but it’s no use. “Sorry,” Rose says over the noise.

 “Why are you _shouting_?” he asks with a wince of surprise.

“It’s a bit loud in here, isn’t it?” Rose replies, wincing as well.

“No,” the Master says slowly.

“Really?” Rose asks, “you can’t hear that?”

“Hear _what_?” he asks her expectantly.

“ _Rose Tyler_ ,” the Trickster snaps, his voice booms across the room making them all jump. “Enough.”

“Right,” the Master says, hovering beside Rose a little closer than he ought to be. “I’m quite done arguing with you,” he tells the Trickster plainly, “and quite frankly she’s really very annoying...go on then, take her.” He waves Rose off, giving her a little push in the Trickster’s direction. “Off you pop.”

“What?” Rose sputters indignantly, “are you mad?”

“Just go,” he rolls his eyes, “he’ll never leave off Rose, he’s determined. You might as well give him what he wants.”

“You _asshole_!” Tosh shouts angrily, “how _could_ you?”

“Rather easily actually,” the Master says, pretending to examine his cuticles, “I’m bored with this, take her already. I told you lot before— _I’m not the Doctor_.”

“Believe me nobody’d make that mistake,” Amy chimes in from the background.

“You _can’t_ be serious,” Rose squints, the noise in this room was giving her a headache.

“I’m not risking my neck for this,” the Master tells her slowly, “I don’t really get anything out of this do I? It’s not really worth my time.”

“Rose Tyler,” the Trickster says with an outstretched hand, “I can help you—the vortex sings to you, it pains you. I can teach you too--…”

“Sorry?” Rose interjects, “I can’t hear you—what did you say?”

“I said,” the Trickster repeats, looking slightly annoyed, “I said I can help you to---…”

“You can _what_?” Rose squints at him, “I’m sorry it’s just very loud in here, can you lot shut up or something?” Rose says aloud, turning to look at the others, “Blimey your timelines are _loud_.”

“Nobody’s yelling Rose,” Tosh says quietly from the background.

“Bloody hell it sounds like my fifth-grade recital in here,” Rose grimaces.

“Rose Tyler!” The Trickster snaps, losing his patience, “Come along now.”

“Sorry what was that I---…” Rose cuts off just as the Trickster steps into range, something in her coat pocket exploding with light. Rose is thrown backwards by the force it’s power, and quickly yanks it right out of her pocket, tossing it to the ground.

The Neverwhen.

“Fuck _me_ \--…” Rose cuts off as the Master yanks her backwards away from it, the two of them watching the Trickster and all his brigade be pulled in. Then with a quiet little click, the Neverwhen snaps closed.

Silence.

“Did you just trap everyone in the ship inside the Neverwhen?” Rose asks, breaking the silence. The Master is crouched behind her and she is suddenly aware of how close he is.

Has he always smelled that nice?

“Yes,” he says after a beat.

“The pilot too?” Rose replies.

“Yes,” the Master grimaces.

“Oh bugger,” Rose says and scrambles to her feet, “Anybody know how to fly a Reseveri war ship?”

“Everybody in the TARDIS _now_!” the Master announces, grabbing the Neverwhen from off the floor before turning towards the blue police public call box in the background.

“What about the ship?” Rose asks, running for the TARDIS.

“It’ll automatically return to the Reseveri home world if the crew is missing,” the Master explains, “I don’t fancy going there, do you?”

It takes her all of two seconds to decide, “Everybody out!”


	12. Bad Wolf Again Part Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own any of it or make any money from any of it, all of it belongs to those who created Doctor Who.

“Ouch,” Rory grimaces as Tosh pries his handcuffs off with a laser saw she found in a cupboard on the TARDIS.

The current occupants of the TARDIS were exhausted, and with good reason. The hum of the rotor as it sings lulls everyone into a sweet sense of calm on the return trip home.

Everyone except Rose Tyler.

“Think she’s alright?” Tosh asks once she’s gotten Amy’s handcuffs off too.

“No,” Amy says, “locked herself in one of the rooms…I can’t imagine she’d be alright after what she’s been through—I wasn’t when they took me to Demons Run.”

“Maybe I should go and check on her…” Tosh trails off when Amy shakes her head in response.

“She’ll want to be alone right now,” Amy says quietly, distantly, “give her time to think…to calm down.”

 

                                       

* * *

 

The TARDIS is singing to her.

She had no idea the TARDIS sang like that, this must be what the Doctor hears all the time. Truth be told, she needed to get away from everyone because she couldn’t tune out the incessant yammering of their individual timelines. She couldn’t walk two feet without being blinded by a sudden image of Rory playing football in the backyard with his Dad as a teenager, or Amy standing in the dark staring at a TARDIS that’d crashed in her backyard.

Or Tosh---seeing Tosh and Owen…

Rose grins to herself—Tosh had some interesting times ahead for her.

She has been officially forbidden to touch _anything_ without gloves. The Master brought her a pair of slim black leather ones from the wardrobe room and told her to keep them on at all times—never touch anything with her bare hands. The material in the fiber of her gloves was time insulated, which meant when her skin made contact with the material it wouldn’t wither away right off her hands. Only TARDIS made clothing would work for her now, everything else would fall apart.

Lovely.

Sitting under the spray of hot water in the shower did wonders for the tension in her shoulders. It washes away the stress of the day until she’s calmed down enough to deal with what’s been done to her. She hasn’t told anyone what she did when she first escaped, guilt weighs heavy on her shoulders.

_Would you like more candles?_

“What the--…” Rose sputters, startled. Her gaze whips around, searching for whoever spoke. “Who’s there?” Whatever it was she heard, it was more like a feeling in her head, an image in her mind. More feeling then words. 

The TARDIS is talking to her now.

“Ok,” Rose says aloud to herself, “now I’m hearing the TARDIS…I can deal with this…I can…”

_Candles?_

“Yes please,” Rose says after a beat, “I…I…” Rose trails off, unsure of what to say, “Have you always been able to talk?”

_Not words…thoughts._

“Now I’m telepathic?” Rose quirks a brow, “Oh that’s just _grand_.”

_You are Bad Wolf._

“I’m Rose Tyler,” she argues quietly, staring at the bath water, “I never asked to be this.”

_Shit happens._

Rose sputters, blinking up at the ceiling, “I’m sorry did you just say--…” she trails off at the sound of a knock at the door. “I’m in the bath…I’ll be out in a bit.”

“Rose Tyler,” the Master’s voice murmurs quietly from the other side of her bedroom door, “when your quiet done with your human needs I’ll be in my study.”

“Yeah,” Rose replies, leaning back against the rim of the tub, “sure.”

The last thing she wanted to do was listen to a lecture.

 

                                         

* * *

 

 

When she finds him, she leans against the doorway of his study and watches him read by the fireplace. She’s in her Pajamas, bare feet padding quietly across the carpet towards him. She drops into the chair across from his and curls her feet up under her. He says nothing a while and she’s grateful because she really doesn’t want to argue right now.

“How are you?” he says quietly, his eyes still on the book he’s reading.

“I can hear their timelines,” Rose says quietly, her gaze on the fire, “I can see every moment of their lives…and apparently, I’m telepathic now too. I just had a rather startling conversation with the TARDIS.”

“I can hear them too,” he says after a beat, “you’ll learn to tune it out—though I imagine you can hear them more clearly than I can. I’ve only got a piece of the vortex in my head, you’ve got the whole bloody thing.”

“How come I can’t hear yours?” Rose asks softly.

“I’m immune,” he replies easily, “Time Lord.”

“Thanks for that, being a Time Lord that is…you’re the only person I can be around without having to listen to your entire life story in one go,” Rose muses quietly.

“It gets old after a while, doesn’t it?” he replies, a tiny smile at the curve of his mouth, “as for the telepathy…” he sighs, “I’m going to have to start keeping barriers up again.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Rose smirks faintly, “does this mean you’ll have to put pants on now?”

“Yes,” he replies, “metaphorically speaking.”

Rose snickers and he rolls his eyes.

“I can’t keep the timelines out,” she says after a beat, “how do I do that?”

“Focus…concentration…it takes practice,” he replies, “as does putting up barriers in your mind to keep from broadcasting everything you’re thinking.”

“I thought you lot couldn’t hear my thoughts without touching me first?” Rose quirks a brow.

“Yes,” he says, “but if your broadcasting loud enough I can hear you without touching you.”

“And the TARDIS…” Rose asks, “I noticed she went to space.”

“Yes,” he replies, “Apparently, she can now—not of my doing. I think she may have been grounding herself intentionally.”

“Really?” Rose asks, “she can do that?”

“Yes,” he stares at the fire, “she’s sentient…it’s not often a TARDIS can refuse orders but she can if she’s a mind for it. I think she knew what was coming. That also leads me to what must be done next…. we need to close the hole between worlds.”

Silence…then...

“Yes,” Rose replies, “we do.”

“You’re alright with that?” he asks, watching her curiously.

“Yes,” Rose answers, “I am.”

They sit for a while in each other’s company and say nothing, musing upon their own thoughts while the fire crackled in the hearth and warmed them. Finally, the Master is the one to break the silence, his eyes on the fire rather than on her.

“I’m not the Doctor,” he says slowly, “I’ve been saying it for ages…I’m tired of pretending to be something I’m not.”

“Then don’t be,” Rose replies, “I don’t want you to do that, I never did.”

“Oh, but you _did_ ,” he frowns at her, “you were always comparing me to him, expecting me to _save the planet_ at the drop of a hat—I’m not him, I don’t do things the same way and I certainly don’t stick my nose where it doesn’t belong like he does.”

“Then be honest with me,” Rose says, “just be… _you_.”

“Alright,” he says, pauses for a beat and then says, “I hate your smelly little planet…I can’t stand your Mother _or_ her cooking, I _detest_ working at Torchwood with your little friends, the whole is thing dull. You lot…the whole lot of you _stink_ …I realize you can’t smell it but I can and you could at least have a little consideration for _me_ and wash up a bit more often. I hate lemons…I really do, I can’t even stand the _smell_ of lemons and your Mother cleans her _whole house_ with the stuff. You, you spend your days pining after a man who’s hardly given you a thought since he dumped you off here with his doppelganger who may I remind you, turned out to be _the Valeyard_. I think he’s in love with you…which is entirely unhealthy and really sort of disgusting. Your rather lucky though, if you get in a jam you’ll have the Valeyard to come bail you out, though I don’t think you’ll like how he does it.” he frowns and looks at her, “I think you were always meant to be Bad Wolf regardless of how I tried to stop it. Which is quite frankly, _alarming_. Considering the stories about Bad Wolf…. I have no idea what you’ll become.”

Rose sits for a moment, soaking it all in before she says, “Well…I think that’s quite a lot of honesty in one go but alright. I know the Valeyard’s in love with me…we shared a life together…it’s kind of hard to walk away from that. I don’t particularly feel lucky…you try having an ageless Time Lord stalker who’s the sum of every dark thought of your first love stalking _you_ across time and space and see how you like it. I don’t like lemons either…my Mum goes overboard. I love working at Torchwood and I liked having you there…and this is going to sound awful…but it was useful with you sorting those bins because it means I didn’t have to listen to Owen complain all day about having to do it. Your right too…about me comparing you the Doctor. I guess I sort of am…I don’t really know where I stand with you, I can’t find my footing. Your moody and rude and inconsistent. One minute your all _let’s find the bad guys_ and the next your all _I don’t interfere_. It’s giving me a sort of whip-lash you know? You’re a bit sensitive I’ve noticed but that’s alright. I can’t imagine what you’ve been through that’s made you the way you are now…but I really do think somebody screwed you over…I think it was somebody you loved…the way you reacted about Ianto…it made me wonder.”

“I don’t _sound_ like that,” he says after a pause, referring to her previous statements about his mood.

“Not a very good impression,” Rose sniffs, “but I do try…. let’s just be honest with each other rather than hide things yeah?”

“Alright,” he says slowly, “I don’t take chances…. you need to understand that. I leave nothing to chance…and letting Dr. Cellar live was risky.”

“You killed him,” Rose lets a breath out slowly.

“In a roundabout way…” he replies, “ _I shelved him_.”

Rose blinks…once…twice…

“The doll on the shelf…” she trails off.

“Yes…” he says without meeting her gaze, pulling his laser screwdriver from his pocket, “Tissue compression eliminator.”

“Bloody hell,” Rose pinches the bridge of her nose in frustration.

“I also have a vortex manipulator I took from him—I first thought the Valeyard had given it to him but now we know it was the Trickster.” He watches her reaction, the tension in her shoulders and the pensive look on her face.

“ _Anything else_?” Rose asks incredulously, watching him with exasperation.

“I may have eaten all the strawberry biscuits and blamed it on your Mother,” he says quietly.

“Of course,” Rose says flatly, “I already knew that one.”

“Did _not_ ,” he says indignantly.

“Did too,” Rose replies, “you love anything with strawberries in it.”

He snorts but says nothing.

“Ha,” Rose says cheekily, “I win.”

“I let you win,” he mutters before changing the subject, “We’ve landed by the way…you ought to know. Everybody went inside and Tosh went home.”

“Yeah,” Rose nods, “Tomorrow we send Rory and Amy home too.”

“And then we seal the hole between worlds,” the Master concludes quietly.

 

                                   

* * *

 

 

They have a farewell breakfast for Amy and Rory. Her Mum goes all out, and afterwards everyone piles into the car to head to Torchwood. Rose received a text an hour before alerting her that the Dimension Cannon was ready. The ride is quiet, everyone said their goodbyes at the house. Rose is sad to see them go but happy for them too. Over the last few weeks she and Amy became good friends, she will miss having someone to share her experiences travelling with the Doctor with. Amy understood where others did not, and she was able to express herself freely without fear of disapproval.

They take the elevator up to the roof –it is a cannon after all—and watch as the Torchwood team brings it online, blue and purple light flashing and dancing like lightening across the portal.

“It’s real simple,” Rose tells Amy and Rory, “Just stand in the circle and it’ll beam you back to your universe.”

“Gonna miss you,” Amy smiles at Rose.

“You too,” Rose smiles back, “If you see the Doctor on the way home, tell him I said hi yeah?”

“Will do,” Amy grins, “you take care of yourself alright? You and the Master.”

“Do me a favor though,” Rose says, “don’t mention the Master to the Doctor….he’s rather keen that the Doctor not know where he is.”

“Not a word,” Amy grins and they hug before she steps away towards the circle behind her.

“Bye,” Rory grins and Rose hugs him too.

“Take care of her alright?” Rose calls to Rory as they go, “and when you see River…you tell her….” She pauses for a moment, “you tell her I said to take care of the Doctor.”

“Alright,” Rory smiles faintly and takes Amy’s hand, both walking towards the circle now.

“One at a time,” Tosh tells them as they approach, hanging temporal protection devices around both their necks, “Step into the circle and we’ll send you over. This device will protect you from any sort of radiation during the trip…it’s also a recall switch to bring you back here so mind that you don’t press the yellow button on the pad yeah?”

“Is this safe?” Rory asks after beat.

“Well considering were punching holes in the universe to send you back—no. However after you and Amy are home the Master and I will go up in the TARDIS to close up the holes.” Rose explains, watching Rory step into the circle first.

“Bye,” Rose smiles, waves a little. Her heart aches to see them go but she knows they have to.

“Bye,” Rory says just as he disappears with a crack of gold light.

“Well,” Amy says slowly, “here I go.”

“Bye,” she says with a little wave and disappears with a crack of gold light as well.

“Well that’s done,” Rose says with a deep breath staring at the space where Amy and Rory once stood, sorrow weighing on her shoulders.

She would miss them.

                                       

* * *

 

 

She stands in the backyard, her gaze on the TARDIS. It’s bright and warm, lit up just as she remembered it used to be when she first met the Doctor. She’s half surprised the Master hasn’t run off with it and left her behind. Hands in her pockets—she got a new coat too, this one’s insulated like her gloves—she walks towards the TARDIS and unlocks the door.

“Alright you,” Rose says as she enters, “I suppose it’s time.”

The Master looks up from where he sits on the pilots seat, a book in hand. “Yes, I suppose it is. Did they make it back alright?”

“Yeah,” Rose sniffs—she won’t cry in front of him—she absolutely refuses to do _that_.

He’d never let her live it down.

He stands, moving around the console as he prepares for take-off. Rose drops down onto the pilot’s seat to watch him, her eyes on his hands as they move across the buttons and switches.

“You tell your Mum about what happened yet?” he asks, looking up at her curiously.

“Have I found a way to explain to my Mum that I’m some kind of super time wielding anomaly?—No.” Rose frowns worriedly, “I can’t tell her…she’ll go mental. She’s always had fears about me working for Torchwood…about travelling with the Doctor and she’ll just…it’ll be like all her fears have come true.”

“You can’t keep it from her forever,” the Master says, “she’s going to notice you wearing gloves _all the time_ eventually. Either that or you’ll slip up and melt her favorite kettle.”

“I already melted my favorite cup,” Rose scowls darkly, “I keep trying to push the energy away from my hands but I can only manage for a few seconds.”

They listen to the rotor as the TARDIS takes off, the sound lulls them both into thought. Finally Rose asks, “Now that we’ve got the TARDIS up and running…”

“I’m leaving,” he says plainly, “I don’t see the point in staying on your smelly little planet anymore. Have you decided where you want to go?”

“Just anywhere really,” Rose says, “somewhere nice and tropical…maybe a leisure planet,” Rose grins at him, “and somewhere I can find a transport back to Earth in my proper time.”

“Alpha Dramorax,” the Master suggests, “sunny, bright, tropical…”

“Good enough,” Rose shrugs, “I’ll want to pack a bag first.”

“Or you could get what you need from the wardrobe room,” he replies, “you can’t wear any of your old clothes…they just fall apart.”

“I need to tell my Mum I’m leaving…I need to explain to Torchwood I’m going on Holiday…” Rose tells him. “I’m giving Owen my job while I’m gone too.”

“He’s definitely a better choice,” the Master agrees after a beat, “We’re here.”

Rose stands, looking at the monitor with him.

“Ready?” he asks quietly.

“Just do it,” Rose says with a blank expression. She thinks of his face and his voice, of the way he smiled, of every adventure they had together. This was her last chance to ever see him again and she was giving it up. 

_Goodbye Doctor…_

“It’s done,” he tells her after a couple of minutes. “Time to take you back.”

“Where will you go?” Rose asks, watching him move about the console.

“Not a clue,” he says, “as far away from Earth as possible.”

“What about Bad Wolf?” Rose asks quietly.

“You’ll manage I’m sure,” he says softly, “I’ll be keeping tabs on you—don’t get any ideas. If I think you’re meddling I’ll be back to sort you out.”

_BAM!_

The sudden sharp jerk of the TARDIS and following explosion sends Rose to the floor _hard_. There is a funny ringing in her ears and her vision’s blurred, a trickle of blood pooling at her forehead from where she hit her head on the grating.

_BAM!_

Another explosion, sharper and louder than the one before. This time she watches the Master fall, rolling right off the grating and landing with a hard thump below. Rose crawls, her body aching with every movement, towards him. “What’s happening!?” she shouts over the smoke and fire, the sharp crackle of wires from the console as they pop.

“I don’t know,” he calls back, climbing back over the grating. Rose helps him back over, gritting her teeth in pain. She’s fairly certain she’s cracked a rib at this point. “Emergency fans—bloody hell just put the fire out will you!?” he shouts at the TARDIS, is relieved when it works and the fans turn on and put the flames out.  He pulls himself up to his feet, grimacing at the wreckage of the console. “The navigation’s gone.”

“What’s that mean?” Rose asks, pulling herself up onto the pilots seat, gold light shimmering across her skin as Bad Wolf patches up her injuries.

“It means were  _lost_ ,” he says, meeting her gaze, “I can’t get you home.”

 

To Be Continued in:  _A Galaxy Lost._

 


End file.
